I Belong to You
by lcasey3
Summary: Voyager encounters a new race with an unusual secret.  Can Janeway save her ship and herself from this new threat?
1. Chapter 1

My first story. Feel free to review. This story has dark elements containing torture, rape, bondage, and a relationship between two women. If you're not into any of those things or are under 18, don't read.

* * *

Inwardly, Captain Kathryn Janeway was seething. She was careful to keep her face calm and expressionless since her crew was looking expectantly at her as the Trelok intruders herded them to the center of the bridge. Janeway wasn't used to being out of control.

The battle with the Trelok had been quick and unexpected. The Trelok had superior weaponry and had broken through Voyager's defenses before the crew could even react. Janeway rarely let herself get so fooled as she had with the Trelok. She tried to look back to see where she had gone wrong, but the Trelok currently on her ship were nothing like the Trelok who had invited them onto their planet.

They had encountered the alien home world a few weeks earlier. It had been months since they had come across an M class planet that could offer a bit of offshore reprieve for the crew. The Trelok had welcomed them with an openness and sincerity that was refreshing after all the hostility Voyager had encountered so far.

The people of the planet were a handsome race with a seemingly utopian lifestyle. Janeway had Commander Chakotay set up rotating shifts so that the crew could spend as much time as possible on the surface. In addition to some R & R, Janeway had been able to negotiate for a number of items critical to the ship's maintenance. In all, it had been an extremely successful week.

Everybody had returned to the ship feeling rested and rejuvenated. It wasn't two days after they had left the planet that the crew had started getting sick. It happened quickly, the doctor dealing with one crew member to begin and Janeway dealing with an epidemic shortly thereafter. The doctor had quarantined anyone with symptoms and eventually Voyager was running on a skeleton crew. The doctor was keeping himself activated 24/7 trying to come up with a cure. The virus did not seem to be life threatening, but neither were the patients' condition improving over time.

By the time the doctor had figured out that the virus had been genetically engineered and introduced purposely to the crew, there was a Trelok vessel on an intercept course for Voyager. With a lack of healthy crew members, Voyager had succumbed easily to the unexpected attack and had been boarded by what appeared to be the military branch of the Trelok.

These aliens had nothing of the friendly, unassuming presence of their non-military counterparts. Their tall, state-like bodies were held erect and their stances were lazily aggressive, as if they knew the humans were of no threat. Their faces were long and serene, seemingly bored with their current occupation of somebody else's ship.

Janeway took in the situation on the bridge before stepping forward.

"What is going on here?" Janeway demanded of their captors.

From behind the soldiers surrounding the crew, a man emerged from the turbolift. He was taller than the others and had a fluid and fit body, clothed in an intimidating black and gold military uniform. He had a clean cut face and black, short cropped hair. His long, slender fingers were interwined together in front of his body. Janeway noted that his eyes were filled with a combination of perverse glee and contempt.

He was flanked by two others: what looked to be a second-in-command on his left and the only woman of the group on the right. The second-in-command was holding a weapon and approached the group alongside the man in charge. The woman was weaponless and stayed a step behind both of the men. She was significantly shorter than the men but still slightly taller than Janeway. Her hair was a deep brown, almost black, and hung straight down to her shoulders. Instead of the black and gold outfits that the others wore, she was garbed entirely in black, with a fitted cropped jacket and leather tight pants and boots. She seemed indifferent to the proceedings and had a dull look in her eyes. Janeway thought she looked either slow or bored.

"Captain Janeway, " the tall one said. "I am Tal Mayvik, commander of the Trelok fleet. Now in charge of your ship and crew."

The Captain narrowed her eyes and strode towards Mayvik, "What has provoked your actions? We left your world on good terms."

Tal Mayvik smiled slowly, "Yes, you did. You also left my planet with a virus that is slowly sucking the life out of your crew, making this process incredibly easy for us. Your ship is now mine. Rarely do we come across an opportunity such as the one you presented us with. Most cultures know to steer clear of us by now."

Mayvik paced as he spoke, speaking almost reverentially about his kind.

"People like you are drawn so easily to us - our perfect planet and superior looks. Centuries ago, we learned to take advantage of this. It's pathetically easy, in fact. Unsuspecting cultures have 'donated' their technology to us, advancing our own culture light years ahead of where we would be on our own. Your transporter technology will be a great asset to us."

Janeway took a step closer to Mayvik and looked him in the eyes, "We will never let you take our technology."

Mayvik looked at her sneeringly and then surveyed the bridge. He turned back to the Captain and said, "It doesn't look like you have much choice."

He had Captain Janeway escorted to the brig, while the rest of the crew was forced to begin repairs. While the humans had been on the home world, they had been studied and Mayvik knew they would do what he wanted if he threatened their Captain's life. They were obviously, and foolishly, fiercely loyal to her.

An assessment of damages to the ship showed that a few explosions from the short fight had burned out control panels intermittently. The shields were down, as was warp drive. One of the cargo bay doors had been blown out to allow the Trelok shuttles to enter.

Mayvik knew that his people didn't have the knowledge to make the needed repairs, but that was the reason they had allowed a portion of the crew to remain healthy.

The Tal didn't care for the humans. In fact, he didn't care for outsiders at all. He truly believed in the superiority of his race. Once the repairs were made and Voyager was safely docked at their space station and the Trelok had what they needed, the humans would be forced to serve on the home world or be exterminated.

* * *

Janeway paced in her cell, a frown furrowing her eyebrows. It had been days since the ship had been taken and she'd had no communication from either her crew or her captors. She was given a scarce amount of food and that was all.

She had been in tighter spots in her life, but this one was up there. She didn't know where the other officers had been taken and who was still alive. Last she knew, B'Elanna Torres, Tom Paris and Harry Kim had still been well, but Chakotay and Tuvok had fallen ill before the ship had been seized. Besides Janeway, it seems the only healthy crew members were ones with specialty skills.

As she was contemplating her limited options, Mayvik strode through the doors along with the women Janeway had noticed the first day and one of Voyager's crew members, Crewman Salor. Mayvik had a frown on his face while the woman had the same dull expression from before.

Mayvik stalked to the edge of the force field holding Janeway in her cell and glared at her.

"It seems your people don't fully recognize the situation they are in, Captain."

Janeway stared back at the Tal and refused to give in to her curiosity. She had long ago realized that silence was always more effective in drawing out information.

Tal Mayvik was agitated and turned away before continuing.

"I thought I had made it clear that your life depends upon this ship getting repaired. Yet, it seems that your crew thinks it's amusing to work slowly and sabotage the systems whenever they're given the chance."

Janeway smiled to herself before responding "Surely you didn't expect us to roll over and give up so easily, Tal Mayvik?" She drew out his name and rank in a drawl that was dripping with contempt.

Mayvik started quickly and angrily towards her, but pulled himself up and, finally, grinned back at her.

"No, Captain, I suppose I shouldn't have. Which is why I am here to request that you talk to them and 'motivate' them to adjust their attitudes."

"And, what makes you think that I would do that?" Janeway asked, although she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. The quickness with which Mayvik's anger had turned to such surety was unsettling.

Mayvik glanced over his shoulder and flicked his hand at the crew member. The woman pushed him forward and Mayvik drew his phaser from its holster and tossed it to her.

"I understand, Captain, that you would do anything for your crew. I also understand that you don't regard your life as highly as those under your command. What about this crewman's life? How much do you value it?"

Janeway glanced at Crewman Salor. He was an uncommissioned crew member, one that she had infrequently interacted with.

Tal Mayvik continued, "It's his life, Captain, or your ship. For every day that this continues, one more of your crew will forfeit their life. Make your decision now."

The Captain looked down and thought through her options. She didn't believe that the Trelok had any intention of letting them go. She also knew that she could not, under good conscience or Federation law, let the Trelok have access to their technology. The question was, what would buy them the most time to figure out a plan to get the ship back.

She looked up, glanced at the crewman, and looked back to Mayvik, "I will agree to talk to my crew under one condition. I want to know that they are being treated fairly. I want to tour the ship on a daily basis to see that they are healthy and well, including that the ill are being tended to."

With a growl, Mayvik said, "You don't seem to realize that you don't have anything to bargain with."

Janeway didn't hesitate before replying, "My crew is ready to die if I ask them to. Either you accept my terms or we'll see to it that this ship is useless to you."

Mayvik regarded her thoughtfully and then chuckled and nodded, "Fine. Remember, Captain, not to get you're hopes up. I'm not as slow as you might hope."

He turned to the woman and spoke to her, "Kalle, show the Captain what will happen if she decides to do more than what she has just agreed to."

Kalle looked sharply at the Tal and for a moment, Janeway thought she saw a spark of light in her eyes. Mayvik started to lift his hand and the light died quickly as she nodded and stepped towards the crewman. With just a brief moment of hesitation, she raised the phaser and shot him.

Janeway choked a strangled cry back down her throat as the man dropped to the floor. "You said..!"

"I know what I said. And, if you keep your end of the deal, this will be the last crew member to meet this end. Captain, I am not an uncaring man, but you must know that I am serious about this. I can see in your eyes that you hope this will give you an opening. I want you to be assured, it will not."

With that, he turned on his heels, looked at Kalle and said "Take care of the body, " before striding out the door. As the body was transported out of the room, Janeway was left with rage bubbling up through her middle, into her heart. One more of her crew that wouldn't make it home.

* * *

In the days since, Captain Janeway had been escorted by Kalle and two other guards to tour the ship. Janeway could see the uncertainty in her crews' eyes. She wanted to soothe and comfort them. To assure them that things would be okay. But, after the first day when she had ordered them to cease with the sabotage, she had not been allowed any communication.

She had talked with the Doctor once who had relayed to her that he had been told he would be given a cure for the virus, but not until the ship had been fixed and they were back at the Trelok home world. The sick crew members had all been sedated in the meantime.

In engineering, B'Elanna Torres worried Janeway the most. The warp drive was still not online and Janeway could see the anger in the young half-human/half-klingon officer. The first day that Janeway saw her, she had given her a warning look and Torres had met her gaze for a moment before looking away.

As she was taught at the Academy to do in a hostage situation, Janeway tried to engage her escorts on these tours, but the male guards only stared ahead, expressionless. The woman, Kalle, carried no weapon, which Janeway though was odd. She had a youthful face and at first, Janeway pegged her at being a young woman. But, upon closer inspection, there were slight lines around her eyes that showed her age more accurately. She had a petite and lithe body and moved quietly, slightly behind the Captain, never saying a word. In fact, Janeway had not heard her speak once. Janeway had always been proud of her ability to see the best in people, but she felt her anger at the woman, along with Mayvik, bordering on hatred.

As the days went by, Torres was able to get the warp engines back online and Mayvik turned the ship back, away from the Alpha Quadrant.

It was about ten days after they had been taken captive that Janeway was given the opportunity that she had been waiting for.

She and her escorts were on their daily walk. She had noticed that Kalle seemed distracted and weary. She was wondering if she could use this to her advantage, when the ship shook violently. Everyone was thrown to the floor as something continually blasted at the ship, shaking the ship at irregular intervals.

Janeway struggled to regain her footing and look around her. Kalle had been thrown against the wall and seemed to be unconscious on the floor. Janeway quickly turned to the closest of her guards, who was still trying to stand, and grabbed him by the shoulders, kneed him in the stomach, and, when he doubled over, dispatched him with a blow to the back of his neck. She grabbed his phaser and turned it on the other guard before he could react.

Sprinting down the hall and through the door into sickbay, Janeway commanded the computer to activate the emergency medical hologram. The doctor shimmered into existence and looked around.

"Captain, what's going on?"

"Doctor, I don't know what's going on but we need to take advantage of it." Janeway was shakily making her way over to a console, while the ship continued to rock beneath her feet. Her fingers played over the controls and finally she went over to storage locker and pulled some weapons out.

"The first task is to secure engineering. Transport me there and then transport yourself to the bridge and get the bridge crew to start clearing the rest of the ship. We'll work our way towards each other. Good luck, Doctor."

Janeway shimmered into engineering to a shocked look on Torres' face. To the Captain's pleasure, her crew had already taken advantage of the situation and there was a full-fledged fight going on in front of the warp core.

Over the next hour, the engineering team and the Captain worked their way towards the bridge. With their lack of numbers, it was impossible to restrain all of the Trelok that they encountered, so B'Elanna set up a force field around one of the cargo bays and continually transported captured soldiers as they were stunned.

By the time Janeway had made it to the bridge, the majority of Trelok had been transferred to the cargo bay. On the bridge, it was Tom Paris that had flown them straight into a partially ionized nebula, which had wreaked havoc on the ship. It was the diversion that the Captain had needed, but now that her crew was out of danger, she needed to save her ship. She ordered Tom to navigate them to a corner of the nebula that was free from ions and the ship finally settled down.

For the first time, Janeway allowed herself to take a deep breath. She looked around her and took stock of the crew that was with her. She started handing out orders: people to check on the injured, Harry Kim to monitor the status of the Trelok ship that was sitting outside the Nebula, and a team with her to secure the cargo bay.

It was on their way there that one more blast rocked the ship.

"Mr. Kim, report".

Harry's voice came through the Captain's commbadge, "Captain, there's been an explosion in the cargo bay. The Trelok have taken the shuttle crafts and have blasted their way out. They are headed out of the Nebula now. Should I try to get them back?"

Janeway sighed. There was nothing she wanted to do more than get Mayvik back to the ship and make him pay for what he had put them through for the last few weeks, but they didn't have the resources right now.

"No, Harry, let them go."

* * *

With the Trelok gone, the crew set about sweeping the ship to make sure there weren't any of the aliens remaining aboard. It was only the unconscious Kalle that was found in the hallway where she had originally fallen. By the time Janeway had been notified and made her way there, the woman was awake and standing, surrounded by a few disheveled members of the Voyager security team. It seemed as if there had been a scuffle.

Kalle had her back to the wall and was looking around nervously. Her jacket was torn at the shoulder and there was blood seeping out of a cut beneath the gash in material. The previously vacant eyes were now filled with fear. Janeway felt a surge of anger as she approached. That her federation training and moral high ground prevented her from throwing the woman out an airlock immediately irked her more than she would have liked to admit.

"Ensign, please escort our guest to the brig." She spit out the word "guest" like it was poison on her tongue.

Instead of following them, Janeway first made her way sickbay, where she was hoping to get an update from the Doctor on the status of ill crew members. Running Voyager, on a good day, would be difficult with only 30 healthy members. Hiding from the Trelok, in a partially functioning ship, was a near impossible task. Curing the rest of the crew was the number one priority for the Captain right now.

The Doctor looked up at Janeway when she entered sick bay. He furrowed his brow, something Janeway assumed he had added to his program recently.

"Doctor, I hope you have some good news for me."

"Unfortunately, Captain, I do not. I was not allowed to work on an antidote over the past few weeks, I was only activated to care for the healthy crew and monitor the sick. I am in the same place I was before we were attacked."

"What are the ramifications of leaving them sedated until we figure out a solution?"

"We can't. The sedation process itself is only meant for the short term. It's not good for their systems and could have lasting affects. Waking them, however, is not an option either. Most of the crew were in extreme pain when they were last awake."

The Doctor went on to explain exactly what was happening to their bodies, until Janeway thought she was going to explode with impatience.

She cut him off with a wave of her hand, "Doctor, please." She took a deep breath before she continued, trying to squelch the sharpness in her tone. "I know you're doing your best."

She dropped her head and pinched the area between her eyes, fighting off the headache that had been a constant since they had been attacked. She wished she had Chakotay or Tuvok to use as a sounding board or to get a second opinion from. But, she didn't.

"Captain, are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, Doctor, I'm fine. I think it's time we found out if the Trelok actually have created their own antidote for this virus. Please accompany me to the brig."

She waited while he transferred his program into the mobile emitter and they walked together to the brig.

As they were walking, the doctor spoke, "Captain, I was unable to inform you previously that I was able to save Crewman Salor from his injuries. I thought you would be pleased to know."

Janeway stopped and looked at the Doctor, "I thought he had died."

"Yes, his injuries were serious, but he was transferred to sickbay in time for my superior medical skills to intervene and save him."

Janeway frowned and continued walking, "That is good news."


	2. Chapter 2

Kalle was sitting on the bed attached to the wall. She immediately stood when the Captain and Doctor entered the room, but didn't move otherwise.

Janeway glanced at the security officer and walked up to the force field. She took a long look at the woman on the other side, who was staring at the floor.

"It feels different being on the other side, doesn't it?" She said this softly, but anyone would be able to hear the danger in her voice.

Kalle didn't move or look up and didn't respond.

The Captain again glanced at the security officer and indicated that he should lower the force field. She stepped into the cell and walked up to the trembling woman. Janeway thought she was a far cry from the unemotional woman who had shot her crewman.

"As you know, the majority of my crew is in immediate need of medical attention. Unfortunately, it seems that only your people have the antidote. Tell me what it is."

Kalle still didn't respond. Before Janeway could control herself, her arm shot out and she backhanded the woman as hard as she could. Kalle fell to her hands and knees silently and stayed there, hunched over.

"Captain!" The Doctor took a step towards them, but Janeway brushed him off and knelt over the prone figure, taking her hair and pulling her head up with one hand and grabbing her injured shoulder and burying her fingers in the wound with her other hand. All of her pent up rage at being rendered so helpless over the past few weeks was threatening to burst out, directed at this woman.

Breathing hard, Janeway hissed at her, "I'm offering you a chance here. What is the antidote ?" Kalle didn't respond or even seem to flinch at the fingers digging into the gash in her arm.

Janeway looked into the woman's eyes and it was what she saw there that finally gave her pause. Underneath a layer of fear, there was a level of acceptance that surprised the Captain. In that moment, all the control that Janeway had spent years mastering returned and with a deep breath, she let go, stood up, adjusted her jacket and walked out of the cell.

She paused with her back to the Doctor and quietly said, "Have her escorted to sickbay so you can see to her injuries and make sure she gets some food."

With that, she walked out the door, stopping on the other side when the doors closed behind her. Her head pounded in time with her pulse and she closed her eyes, shame at her actions crowding in with each beat.

* * *

It was only an hour later, while Janeway was meeting with Torres and Kim regarding the status of the ship repairs, that the Doctor paged her.

"I think you should come to sickbay immediately, Captain."

"Doctor, I am in the middle of a meeting, can it wait?"

"No, Captain, I think you should see this right away."

Janeway sighed and looked at the officers sitting in her ready room. "Continue with the repairs and keep me updated."

As she once again passed through sickbays doors, Janeway saw the Doctor scanning through data on a console, while Kalle was sitting on the main biobed, with a force field surrounding her. She was still fully clothed and her wound had not been tended to.

"Doctor, what is going on?"

The Doctor looked up and motioned her into his office. They both sat down and Janeway waited for the Doctor to explain why he had called her there.

Nodding towards the woman in the other room, the Doctor said, "She won't let me remove her jacket to treat her injury, so I was forced to do only a cursory examination with a medical tricorder. There are a number of concerning things that I found." The doctor paused for dramatic effect and the Captain tried to hide her irritation. "Not the least of which is that she is human."

"Human!" Janeway sat, stunned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Captain, 100%. It seems that some cosmetic work has been done to make her facial features more like the Trelok, but she is human."

"I see. Have you asked her about this?"

"No, I was waiting to tell you first." The Doctor paused before continuing. "There's something else, Captain. The tricorder is showing more extensive injuries than what I would expect from today's events. She has both internal and external injuries, some of which are recent and some of which seem to be days and even weeks and months old. I can't tell you anymore than that, because she won't let me touch her." Frustration was evident in the Doctor's voice.

Janeway pondered this information for a few minutes, unsure of what it all meant.

"Has she said anything to you since you've been with her?"

"Not a word."

Janeway stood up and walked into the main portion of sickbay and over to the biobed.

Kalle had been sitting on the raised platform but again stood as Janeway approached. There was an angry red mark across her cheekbone where Janeway had hit her, and the Captain felt a new burst of shame. She paused at the console, punched in some commands and the force field dropped.

"The Doctor tells me you have some serious injuries that need attention. Will you let him look at you?" Janeway's voice was softer than it had been in awhile. She noticed that Kalle's hands were shaking slightly and the woman didn't even seem to hear her. Janeway was beginning to get extremely frustrated by the complete lack of response from the woman.

"Kalle!" The sharp command brought the woman's head up and Janeway saw confusion in her eyes. Again, Janeway went back to her first assessment that the woman was maybe a little bit stupid. "Take your jacket off now, so the doctor can see to your injuries."

The clear command seemed to break through the woman's haze. Slowly, Kalle unzipped her jacket and shrugged it off her shoulders, pulling her arms out of the sleeves. Underneath, she wore a tight tank top that laid bare her neck and arms.

Janeway gasped at what was underneath the jacket and Kalle took a step back as if Janeway had hit her again. She hunched her shoulders and shuddered once before crossing her arms over each other and hugging her body tightly with them.

Almost every exposed area of skin was covered in bruises or scars. Long, white lines ran across her body and the bruises were in various stages of color. Some were red and puffy while others were tinged purple with mottled yellow around the edges.

Janeway stepped forward and raised her hand in comfort, but Kalle stepped further back, keeping distance between the two of them.

"Who did this to you?" Janeway could barely get her voice above a whisper.

Of course, she got no answer. She turned around and looked at the two guards at the door.

"Would you please leave us? We will be fine with you standing outside the door."

As they left, she turned to the Doctor, who had picked up his tricorder and had continued his scans on the shaking woman. She watched him carefully walk all the way around her, with Kalle standing still, but rotating her head to keep one eye on the Doctor and one on Janeway.

As she stepped closer, the Captain felt as if she was trying to approach a frightened animal. The change in Kalle's demeanor from when she first boarded the ship to now made it seem as if she was dealing with two different people.

She cautiously got as close to Kalle as she could and said, "Please trust us. We're going to try to help you. Will you let us do that?" After a moment, she was rewarded with a slight nod.

Encouraged, Janeway asked her if she would take off her shirt and pants, so the Doctor could fully examine her. She and the Doctor walked into his office, to allow her some privacy to do this.

When they returned, Janeway wished they hadn't. It was almost grotesque, what had been done to the woman's body. Scars criss-crossed her lean and muscular stomach and back. She had deep, red bruises on her breasts and on the inside of her thighs, bruises that were in the shape of fingers. In addition to her scars, there were long gashes on her back in various states of healing. Some of them were oozing out of jagged edges of raised skin. She was skinny enough that her ribs showed prominently through her skin.

The humiliation on the woman's face was almost more than Janeway could take. As the Doctor helped Kalle lay down on the biobed, Janeway walked out of sickbay, trying her best to keep from being sick.

* * *

What remained of the senior staff was assembled in the conference room. After leaving sickbay, Janeway had called the meeting to assess their situation. Repairs were coming along slowly, but the warp engines had remained online, as had the weapons system.

The Trelok ship continued to stand sentry outside of the nebula and Janeway asked for updates from each of the officers sitting at the table.

Kim reported that they were safe in the nebula for the time being, but any change in the ion storms within the nebula could put the ship at risk. An in-depth assessment of the Trelok's weapon systems confirmed that Voyager wouldn't stand a chance in another encounter and the Trelok's stolen technology would have no trouble keeping up with Voyager at warp.

Janeway came away from the meeting more discouraged than before, but kept her game face on for the crew. An update from the Doctor told her that the worst of Kalle's injuries had been treated, but that based on the Doctor's scans, the injuries and scars had come from years, if not decades, of continuous abuse. The woman was now sleeping with the help of a sedative.

Lacking any other options, Janeway retired to her ready room and replicated a cup of coffee. She hadn't slept in almost twenty-four hours and the initial adrenaline of getting her ship in order had worn off.

She tried to sort through everything that had happened in the last day. What had initially seemed to be a random incident of a race trying to steal technology from Voyager now seemed to be something much more. The chances that a lone human was amongst a people that had put some much effort into taking control of her ship were slim, in Janeway's mind.

And how had Kalle gotten to the Delta Quadrant in the first place? If what Mayvik had told her was true, the Trelok had stolen technology from countless species. What if they had found something that could transport the crew of Voyager home?

It didn't take Janeway long to realize that she wasn't finished with the Trelok. Besides getting an antidote for the virus-ridden crew members, there were too many unanswered questions. Questions, she hoped might be answered by Kalle.

A check with the Doctor told her that he wouldn't wake the patient without giving her more rest, so the Captain headed to her own quarters to get some sleep.

She hadn't been back to her quarters since before the attack and it seemed that Mayvik had been using her rooms as his own. She spent some time removing his belongings and finding what had been hers. Her quarters were fairly bare of personal belongings.

When she was being honest with herself, Kathryn hated being in her quarters. It reminded her too much of what she had lost - a life as a real person, with feelings and emotions that could be acknowledge and tended to. It was easier to keep her Captain role at the forefront at all times. Allowing herself to slip into being Kathryn only made it harder to accept what her life had become. The crew needed a Captain, not a woman.

Once she had tidied up, she slipped off her boots and jacket, but didn't bother to change into her bedclothes. She lay down on her bed and eventually drifted off to sleep.

She awoke with a start a few hours later. She fumbled for her commbadge and, her voice husky with sleep, called the Doctor to get the status of his patient. He informed her that she would be ready to be woken at any time.

Janeway spent a few minutes cleaning herself up and then headed straight to sickbay. Kalle looked almost peaceful lying on the biobed and a quick glance under the sheet that covered her showed that her open wounds had been tended to and her bruises were on their way to healing. The scars were still visible, most of them too old to be erased by medical equipment.

The Doctor approached the bed with a hypospray and injected it into Kalle's neck. Nothing happened for a few moments and then, suddenly, she opened her eyes and pulled herself up into a sitting position. Finally, focusing her eyes on Janeway and the Doctor, she pushed herself away from them, almost falling off the bed. She hopped down and backed up until she was pressed against the wall.

Janeway reacted by putting her hands up with her palms facing toward the woman and making a soothing noise in the back of her throat. Again, she was reminded of trying to calm a wild animal. The Doctor seemed to be at a loss, apparently lacking in a program that could deal with this situation.

After a few minutes, the wildness in Kalle's eyes died down and her breathing evened out.

"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to startle you, " Janeway said. "I'd like to talk with you. Will you come sit down?"

Kalle moved back to the biobed and the Doctor helped her up, Kalle flinching away from his touch.

"The doctor ran some scans and found out something that interests us greatly." Janeway paused and gave Kalle an assessing look. "He has done DNA tests that seem to indicate that you are human."

Janeway watched her carefully to see her reaction. The woman's head shot up quickly to look at Janeway, her eyes wide with surprise. But then, just as quickly, she removed the emotion from her eyes and looked back down.

A second later, with a voice rusty from disuse, she said her first word to Janeway.

"Human?"

There was questioning in the voice and confusion. There was nothing to indicate that she had known she wasn't Trelok.

"You didn't know you were human?" Janeway asked her this without any intonation.

"No, ma'am."

When nothing else seemed forthcoming, Janeway probed some more.

"Do you know how you came to be in the Delta Quadrant, living with the Trelok?"

"No, ma'am."

Janeway walked closer to the woman, "You've spent your entire life here, then?"

There was a pause before Kalle answered.

"I don't know, ma'am."

Janeway looked at her in confusion. "You don't know?'

"I don't remember anything from before I was twelve. My only memories are from being with the Tal."

"What is your relationship to him?"

There was a moment of hesitation.

"I belong to him, ma'am."

"You belong to him?" Janeway was getting sick of repeating everything the girl was saying.

"Yes, ma'am."

Janeway thought about this for a moment. There was obviously a lot more going on than she could handle at the moment. She had to keep focused on what was most important.

"Kalle, I don't know what is going on here and before we can figure out it, I need to get my crew healthy again. Can you tell me how to help them?"

Kalle shook her head, "I'm sorry, Captain, I don't know anything about it."

Janeway sighed and turned to the Doctor, "We'll continue this conversation later. Doctor, please make sure that our guest is comfortable."

* * *

Kalle wasn't sure how to take these Federation officers. She had seen the hate in the Captain's eyes when she came to her in the brig and, frankly, didn't blame her. She hated herself as well, for shooting that crewman. She had tried her best not to kill him, had lowered the setting on the phaser when Mayvik wasn't looking, although the Trelok didn't have anything as low as merely a stun setting. After Mayvik had left, she had transported the downed man directly to sickbay, hoping that holographic doctor could save him.

She had hoped to be lucky, that Mayvik wouldn't have time to check up on what had happened. It was a risk, trying to save the man. Days after the incident, she thought she was in the clear. But the Tal had noticed the man working in engineering and he was enraged enough to drag her immediately back to their quarters. He had asked her what she thought the appropriate punishment should be but, before she could answer, he had started beating her with a fury that didn't abate until long after she lost the energy to even attempt to block the blows anymore. Even after that, he had tied her to the bed and whipped her until her back was lined with angry welts and then he used her to sate his excitement from the physical exertion.

It was not the worst beating she had taken, by far, but it sapped her energy and every move she made was punctuated with searing pain as her clothes rubbed against her torn back and her muscles ached against their bruises.

The next day, all she could do was focus on dulling the pain enough to make it through her duties. When the ship was assaulted by the nebula, the impact against the bulkhead was too much for her weary body to accept. She had blacked out immediately and didn't wake until she was found by the security team.

She had tried to fight them, but she was too weak. They subdued her easily and when the Captain had come, she realized that the rest of her people were gone. She knew her duty to the Tal and to her people was to keep her mouth shut and endure what was to come.

She was not surprised when the angry Captain had come to her cell and hit her. What did surprise her was how quickly the Captain's rage had changed to shame. She had seen the color drain from the woman's face. How her shoulders had slumped as if she had somehow been defeated. She didn't understand it when the woman had abruptly left the cell, but she was grateful for the reprieve. She was so tired.

When that doctor had taken her to sickbay, she was sure it was a trap. She couldn't let her guard down, but she was exhausted and hurting. Just when she was sure the doctor was going to forcibly remove her clothing, he had sighed and backed away, leaving her alone behind the force field.

Kalle had sat down on the bed and tried to meditate - usually she could focus the pain to a point inside her before pushing it away. But, too quickly, the Captain had showed up again.

Kalle spent much of her life trying to control her fear. She lived in a constant state of alert, trying her hardest to please Mayvik, but knowing that she was never doing good enough. She had regular duties associated with belonging to the Tal and she worked at excelling at what was expected of her. But Tal Mayvik enjoyed seeing her pain and was constantly reiterating that she deserved it for not living up to his expectations.

She was used to the abuse as being a regular part of life. Over the last 20 years, she had become good at suppressing any outward signs of what she was feeling inside. Since being on Voyager, however, she seemed to lack any control over her body.

She thought the Captain would be angry that she had not complied with the doctor's request to remove her clothes. She was so focused on trying to control her shaking limbs that she was taken off guard when the Captain had spoken with such compassion and concern in her voice. It had startled her so much that she had allowed herself to obey the Captain's request. She found herself mostly naked in front of the two of them, cheeks burning from the shame of what the marks on her body implied.

When the doctor had finally finished and had administered the sedative, her last though was that she had to stay on guard, that this was probably a plan to lull her into a false sense of security. With that on her mind, she had drifted into unconsciousness.

She couldn't remember where she was when she awoke. She sat up with a jolt and immediately focused on the two figures in front of her. She couldn't seem to remember anything and when the woman stepped towards her, she fumbled her way off the bed and pushed herself as far away as she could, until the wall stopped her. Again, her body seemed to betray her as her heart went racing and she couldn't catch her breath. She had to take a few moments to go through a calming routine. By the time her breathing had become even again, she had regained her bearings.

Her thoughts from the night before, when she had vowed to stay on guard, were at the forefront of her mind as Janeway led her back to the biobed. The petite red-headed woman was dangerous, Kalle knew that. Look at how easily she had regained the ship. She was no fool and Kalle was reserving judgement about what the woman was up to until she had more information.

The news that the woman gave Kalle next spun her in a whole knew direction. Human! Was that possible? Were they lying? If so, what would they have to gain by it?

These people were strangers, so different from what she was used to. The only life she remembered was living with the Trelok. She knew she was missing memories of her entire childhood, but after initially being severely punished for asking about it, she had put those years out of her mind.

Things were spinning out of control at a rate Kalle couldn't process. Her initial plan of staying quiet and letting her people come to get her was seeming less and less like a viable option. When the Captain started asking questions, Kalle wasn't sure if she should answer. But there was something about the commanding presence of the woman that compelled her to respond. And, if it were true that she was human, didn't that mean she now belonged to these people?


	3. Chapter 3

The senior staff was wrapping up another meeting in the conference room with little progress towards a solution. The repairs were close to being finished and they couldn't stay in the nebula indefinitely. They had bantered around ideas until they had come to the conclusion that they only had three options - to try to fight their way past the Trelok, to try to negotiate with the Trelok, or to head straight through the nebula and out the far side, where it would take the Trelok weeks to get to by going around. This third option had the advantage of giving them time to regroup and find help, but also came with the danger of navigating the nebula.

Janeway always favored diplomacy ahead of both violence and running away, but she had assigned Paris to planning the safest route through the nebula and had put Torres and Kim on coming up with a plan that would give them an advantage in a fire fight.

Janeway had dismissed them and was about to head to her ready room when she realized nobody had gotten up from their chairs.

"Captain," B'Elanna said, apparently the spokesperson for the group.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" Janeway knew what her engineer was going to ask but feigned ignorance.

"The Trelok prisoner - has she given us any useful information? Anything that could help get the rest of our crew back or information that will help us fight them?"

Janeway looked down at the table before answering, taking her time, because there was much more to her response than any of them realized. She had told nobody about the Doctor's discovery, not because she did not want it known, but because she wanted time to sort through the ramifications herself. They had moved Kalle to a private bed in sickbay where she was resting and recovering her strength. Janeway could see that even the slightest exertion wore the woman out.

The Captain knew she couldn't trust the woman, even if she was human. However, she was hoping that she could gain Kalle's trust enough to ferret out some vital information.

"The prisoner is not your concern, Lieutenant. Suffice it to say, if I have anything of importance to report, I will tell you."

"But, Captain..."

"Lieutenant! You'll have to trust me on this. Dismissed."

They weren't happy and she knew it. And she couldn't blame them. There had been rumors floating around ship. That the woman had tried to kill Crewman Salor in cold blood. That she knew the cure for the virus, but refused to share the information. That for her role in taking over the ship she was now lying comfortably in sickbay and Janeway was doing nothing to get at that information.

Especially the former Maquis, many of whom would not have hesitated to torture the woman for information, this seemed like a slap in the face. Chakotay, and other of their friends, were lying helpless in a converted cargo bay and the crew was anxious and concerned. But Janeway hoped they would trust her on this matter.

* * *

It was only a short while later that her commbadge chirped and Ensign Kim was summoning her to the bridge. The Trelok were hailing them.

Janeway entered the bridge from the conference room, "On screen, Ensign."

The picture on the view screen changed from the colorful gasses of the nebula to the face of Tal Mayvik.

"Captain, good to see you again."

"Tal Mayvik," Janeway inclined her head at him. "I wish I could say the same about you."

"Well, Captain, you can't be planning on staying in that nebula forever. I was hoping we could come to some sort of agreement."

"What did you have in mind?"

"It seems that you are now holding a member of my crew prisoner on your ship. In exchange for her, we would be happy to send you the antidote for your sick crew members."

Something about the way he made the offer bothered Janeway. His voice and demeanor were calm and steady, but she had the feeling that he was more tense than he let on.

"Tal Mayvik, would you care to tell me how it came to be that a human is living amongst your people? And why you are so eager to get her back?" Several of the bridge crew shot Janeway surprised looks as she made this statement, but she ignored them.

The Tal himself seemed unsettled and the words that followed were angry.

"Captain, this is none of your concern and I suggest you take us up on our offer before we have to take more extreme measures."

"Mayvik, I fail to see how a lone human in the Delta Quadrant would be none of my concern. Unfortunately, as much as I would like to put this experience behind us, the situation is such that I cannot. Again, I am asking you, how is it that Kalle ended up living with your people?"

Mayvik did not respond for a moment. Finally, in a low voice, he said, "I warned you, Captain."

Abruptly, the screen went blank. Janeway turned around and said to Kim, "Ensign, report."

"The Trelok ship is entering the Nebula, Captain!"

She looked at Paris and said, "Lieutenant, do you have a course through the nebula laid out?"

"Yes, ma'am," Paris responded with a few clicks of the console.

"Well, then I suggest we get the hell out of here. Full impulse, Paris."

As the engines stirred and the ship gained momentum, Ensign Kim warned, "They are powering up their weapon systems, Captain."

"Lock on all phasers and torpedos and fire at will. And let's hope their ship does not fair as well in the nebula as Voyager has."

As phaser fire volleyed around them and the ship rocked at each hit, Captain Janeway called to engineering. "B'Elanna, I was thinking. Is there some way of igniting the ions behind us, to close up the path?"

There was a pause before Torres responded.

"Captain, I think if we vented some plasma and ignited it with a torpedo, we might just be able to block their path. However, we would risk the blast disabling Voyager in the process."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take. Ensign Kim, make it so." Janeway made her way to the Captain's chair. "All hands, brace for impact."

* * *

The good news was, the Trelok ship had been disabled. The last Voyager had seen of it, the vessel had been listing to one side and pouring out smoke. The bad news was, Voyager had taken a beating as well.

Janeway was sick of making repairs. Her crew was exhausted, taking a few hours of rest here and there, but otherwise working around the clock.

They were limping their way through the nebula, making course changes often enough to keep Tom Paris busy. By his calculations, they still had two more days until they reached the other side.

Being the captain often had its perks, but right now Janeway wished she were just a regular member of the crew. Where ever she tried to help, it seemed she was in the way. She was peering over B'Elanna's shoulder when finally the short tempered engineer had tapped her commbadge and asked Harry if he needed the captain on the bridge. Janeway got the point.

She found herself wandering through the corridors thinking about Mayvik's odd behavior regarding Kalle. Janeway's gut was telling her that there was more to this than the Trelok just wanting one of their people back. Mayvik was too uneasy, as if he had something important to lose.

Janeway had studied many cultures that had a history of slavery. Hundreds of years ago, on Earth, slavery had been rampant. She knew there were many impetuses for slavery, the most common being economics. Based on what she had seen on the Trelok home world, it didn't seem likely that this was what was going on.

She also knew that another main motivation was desire for power. This made much more sense. It was obvious that Mayvik enjoyed mental, physical, and sexual power over Kalle. But was that all? Would Mayvik really be willing to give up a main bargaining chip, just to get that back? It didn't make sense.

As she thought through this, she found that she had ended up wandering straight to sickbay. She walked through the doors to find the Doctor working feverishly amongst the medical equipment.

"Doctor, how's the patient doing?"

"She's doing fine Captain. She no longer needs my continual care."

Janeway walked into the room holding Kalle, with the two guards standing at the doorway. The prisoner was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, legs crossed and eyes closed. When she didn't open her eyes or show acknowledgement that someone had entered, Janeway took a seat at the side of the room.

She leaned forward in her chair and settled her eyes on the brunette. It had only been a few days since the Doctor had started treating her, but the difference was notable. Her face had lost its sallowness and the hollows in her cheeks had filled out a bit. She had her hair pulled back at the nape of her neck. She was in a common meditation pose and while her back was tall and straight, she looked relaxed.

Janeway turned to one of the guards and asked him how Kalle spent most of her time. He responded that she spent the majority of her time meditating, exercising, and sleeping.

The Captain settled back into observing the woman. Janeway really hadn't looked at her carefully before. Her skin was olive toned, suggesting she had some Asian or Mediterranean influence in her background. Her cheekbones were high and well-defined, leading down to a strong jawbone. Her complexion was flawless and the little lines around her eyes that Janeway had noted before, along with the Doctor's assessment, put the woman in her early thirties.

She was wearing loose clothing that the ship had provided, but it didn't hide the shape of her long, slender arms and legs. Janeway didn't think anyone would deny that she was stunning.

Her gaze travelled back up to the woman's face, to find her eyes open and staring at the Captain. As soon as their eyes met, Kalle lowered her gaze.

"How are you feeling?"

Kalle looked taken aback but she finally answered, "Much better, ma'am, thank you."

"The Doctor says that you're ready to leave sickbay. You'll be going back to the brig this afternoon."

"Yes, ma'am."

There was no fear in her eyes that Janeway could see and her hands were steady, with no sign of the trembling that had been noticeable before. She responded to Janeway's questions politely, but without much investment.

Janeway stood up, approached Kalle, and knelt down in front of her. Kalle didn't move, but Janeway noticed a wariness now that she was closer.

"I've spoken with Tal Mayvik. He made quite the case for getting you back, offering us a cure for the virus. I turned him down. I hope I didn't make a mistake."

Kalle eyes shifted, looking to the side, but she stayed silent. Getting a response from the woman was like pulling teeth.

"I see. You're not making it easy for me to figure out how to help you. I'm in a bit of a dilemma here. You are human and technically that means that you fall under Federation protection. But you're also a member of a race that will seemingly go to no end to keep you in their custody. Do you want to go back to them, Kalle?"

This time, Kalle did look at the Captain. She hesitated and then whispered, "I don't know, Captain."

"You have two days before we get to the other side of the nebula. I'd like you to think about it more." Janeway stood up and headed for the door. Just as she was leaving, she heard Kalle's quiet voice.

"There's an M-class planet a few light years outside of the nebula. The people who live there are extremely advanced medically. They might be able to help you."

Janeway turned around and looked at Kalle, but the woman was staring at the ground. The Captain sighed and walked away.

* * *

It had been three long days, but Voyager had finally reached the planet. The Doctor was concerned about the health of the sedated crew and didn't feel that he could keep them under for much longer.

Over the three days, Janeway had met with a lot of resistance from her senior officers. They were concerned that the planet Kalle had suggested was a trap. They questioned her decision to keep Kalle on the ship and not trade her for the medication. Torres, in particular, was angry that the Captain seemed to be choosing the woman over the rest of her crew.

In truth, Janeway didn't completely understand it herself. If Tuvok were here, he would point out the illogical path that she was taking, listening to her gut. But, once the decision to keep her had been made, Janeway didn't feel that she had any other choice than take a risk on Kalle's suggestion. They needed a cure desperately. And deep down, she felt it was the right thing.

Even so, she put the ship on red alert as they had approached the planet. The Tamlon were initially wary, but after hearing Voyager's story, they agreed to help. It didn't hurt that the Trelok had a bad reputation in the area and people in general were willing to help out anyone who defied them.

It had taken another day for the Tamlons to tailor a drug to human physiology, but it had been tested and the crew was starting to recover. Janeway felt a huge burden lift off her shoulders as she slowly got her crew back and she had her two closest confidantes at her side again.

It took her a few hours to bring Chakotay and Tuvok up-to-date on everything that had happened since they had been out of commission. When she finished, she sat back and asked for opinions.

The three of them had no doubt that the Trelok would be able to catch up to Voyager if they wanted to. There was no way to outrun them. At some point, they were going to have to take a stand. A stand against what was the question. The Tamlon had suggested that they stop at a planet called Brahid, if they needed any further help with the Trelok. They were scant on details, but the three commanding officers felt this was the only option open to them at the moment. Especially since Brahid wasn't too far out of way.

As soon as they were sure the crew was healthy, Janeway thanked the Tamlon profusely and broke orbit with the new destination. It would take them at least a few weeks at maximum warp. Janeway hoped the Trelok wouldn't catch up to them before then.

* * *

She had only been to Kalle's cell once since she had been moved back to the brig and that was to let her know that because of her advice, the crew had been cured. Kalle had seemed pleased, although Janeway may have been reading too much into her staid expression.

Both Tuvok and Chakotay had spent some time with the prisoner, with little success in getting her to come out of her shell. She seemed completely unwilling to respond to either of them other than to answer their questions with short, concise statements.

With her crew back, Janeway had been kept busy making sure that everybody was settling back in and the ship was running smoothly.

She had just finished her duty shift and didn't feel like going to her quarters. Since things were getting back to normal, the mess hall had reopened to Neelix's cooking and Janeway found herself headed there.

It was lively in her former private dining room, everybody happy to be healthy and back into their routine. Janeway took a seat at an empty table and observed her crew. She was pleased that they looked so happy. Groups of friends were sitting together chatting and there were even a few couples getting reacquainted. Janeway watched them: holding hands, smiling at each other, laughing at something the other said.

It was bitter sweet for her. She wanted her crew to be content. But it was painful for her knowing that she would never be. 70 years alone is a long time. Janeway had resigned herself to her fate. But every once in awhile, in moments like these, she wished it could turn out differently.

She got up and left the mess hall, making her way to the brig. When she entered the room, Kalle was doing push-ups in her cell.

"You seem set on keeping yourself in shape while you're on board. Do you exercise this much at home?"

Kalle stopped what she was doing and stood up.

"Yes, ma'am. I exercise every day at home."

"How would you like to join me on my morning runs? I can arrange to have you escorted to the holodeck."

Kalle looked at her quizzically. "I'd...like that, Captain." She said the word "like" as if she were trying it out for the first time.

"Good, I'll make sure you have something to wear. Be ready at 0500."

The next morning, Kalle's guards brought her to the holodeck to meet the Captain. She was wearing running shorts, sneakers and a tank top. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She looked positively human.

Janeway greeted Kalle and then started the program. It was a 5 mile run she did everyday that mixed trails, roads, and the beach. She had set the scenery to many of the places she missed the most from Earth.

She was hoping that the run wouldn't be too strenuous for Kalle, especially after her recent health issues. They stretched together silently, with the sun coming up over the hills, and Janeway felt very much at peace. Kalle followed Janeway's lead and when they started to run, she stayed to the side and just behind the Captain.

For the first mile, Janeway turned around every so often to check on her running partner, but Kalle wasn't even breathing hard. After awhile, she focused on enjoying her run and the scenery. The path led them through the hills and down to a road where the landscape changed to open fields, like those she had grown up with in Indiana.

The run finished on the beach and by the time Janeway slowed to a walk, her legs were burning and her lungs were heaving. Kalle slowed down beside her and they walked alongside the ocean as they cooled down.

Finally, Janeway took a seat in the sand, deeply breathing in the salty air. She looked at Kalle and, smiling, said, "You're putting me to shame. You don't even look tired."

Kalle didn't say anything in response and Janeway leaned towards her. "Having a conversation with you is difficult when you don't say anything."

There was a moment of silence and then Kalle said, "I'm sorry, Captain. I don't...I'm not used to...conversing."

Janeway thought about that for a minute before responding. She had no idea what this woman's life had been like, no idea what motivated her. If she had a ship's counselor, there was no doubt Kalle could have greatly benefited. But, seeing that she didn't, she was going to have to work with what she had.

"Kalle, I'd like to learn more about your life with the Trelok. If there's the possibility that you will stay here on the ship, we should learn more about each other. "

Kalle sat with that statement. She desperately wanted to trust this woman. But trust was a luxury given to those who were free to make their own choices. And, anyway, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to trust the Captain about.

Every moment of life that Kalle could remember, she had belonged to Mayvik. She had been taught that her entire purpose was to serve. She learned to anticipate his needs, relinquish her own needs, and accept that this was the life she deserved.

Although she was technically a prisoner on Voyager, she had been treated with more respect than she could ever have fathomed by the Captain. Frankly, it freaked her out. It went against everything that she was used to and she didn't know how to respond.

But she knew that she was not good enough for this life. There was a reason she had ended up with Mayvik and she should respect that.

"Captain, I belong to Mayvik, but my life is in your hands right now. I don't know what it means that I am human, but I do trust that you will make the right decision regarding what should happen with me. "

Janeway sighed, "Kalle, your life should be your own. That's what we value, here on Voyager."

She stood up, aware that this was probably a lot for Kalle to have shared. She looked down at the younger woman and said, "Would you like to join me again tomorrow?"


	4. Chapter 4

For the next few days, the Captain and Kalle met in the mornings for their run. Each day, Janeway pushed both the pace of their run and their conversations further. The running was easy. The conversations moved more slowly. Kalle never spoke of the specifics of her time with the Trelok. She did speak of the planet, though, and how she missed being outdoors when Mayvik was stationed on a ship. She seemed to have a deep connection to the earth and Janeway sensed the runs rejuvenated her.

After a few days, Janeway started bringing her to the mess hall for breakfast. A few days after that, she let her spend part of the day in her ready room, while she did work. She replicated a few classic novels from Earth for her to read and she sat quietly on the couch devouring them.

Janeway found that she enjoyed the woman's company. She didn't ask anything of the Captain and was just as happy sitting in silence as she was letting the Captain talk to her. Janeway would bounce ideas off of her or have her take notes when the Captain needed another pair of hands. Kalle's memory was phenomenal and if Janeway forgot something, Kalle would quietly remind her. She would also do little things for the Captain, like get her coffee right when she needed it most or tidy up the disarray of PADDs left on her desk when she was called to the bridge. At first, it made Janeway uncomfortable, but Kalle was so unassuming that it almost seemed natural.

At the same time, Kalle was feeling more like she had a purpose aboard Voyager. She took her responsibility to the Captain seriously and tried her hardest to please her as much as possible. She was growing more in tune with the Captain's personality and moods. She could see that the crew looked up to the woman and were incredibly loyal to her. But she could also see how separated the Captain felt from the rest of the ship. She often saw the pain and loneliness in her eyes, when the Captain didn't think anyone was looking.

Still, overall, the Captain wasn't asking much of Kalle and Kalle worried she was doing something wrong. If the Captain didn't want her, why hadn't she returned her to the Trelok? Kalle was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It was taking them longer to reach Brahid than they had hoped. They were only halfway there and Janeway was feeling the stress. A number of the ship's systems had failed and Janeway hadn't gotten much rest over the past few nights. Even so, that night, she found herself lying in bed unable to sleep. She finally gave up, put some clothes on, and left her quarters. She often found herself wandering the halls at night when she couldn't sleep.

Eventually, she made her way to the brig. When the doors opened, she dismissed the guard and turned to the cell. Kalle was awake, sitting on her bed.

"Is it okay if I come in?"

When Kalle nodded, Janeway lowered the force field, went in and sat down next to her, leaning her back against the wall with a sigh. She didn't want to talk, but for some reason she didn't want to be alone either.

She closed her eyes and brought her hands up to her neck, rubbing the knots behind her shoulders.

Kalle slid closer to the Captain and Janeway started when she felt Kalle's hands remove her own from her neck. Kalle gently put her own hands on Janeway's shoulders and rotated the Captain's body so she was facing away from the other woman. Her massaging hands felt so good to Janeway, that instead of protesting, she let out a low moan.

"That feels so good. Where did you learn to do this?" Her hands felt like an expert's touch.

"I've had a lot of practice, Captain."

Kalle spent the next thirty minutes smoothing the knots out of Kathryn's neck and back. Janeway was almost in a trance when Kalle gathered the Captain's hair in her hands and pushed it to the side. She leaned forward and gently put her lips to the older woman's neck. At the same time, she slid her hands up the Captain's arms and lightly caressed the nape of her neck before slipping her fingers underneath the top of her shirt and down to her breasts.

It took the Captain a moment to realize what was happening before she shot up and turned around to face Kalle.

"What are you doing?"

Kalle looked up at her, the confusion in her eyes apparent. "I'm sorry, Captain. I thought that was why you had come here."

"You thought I came here to have sex with you?"

"No. Yes. Captain. Please. I just...I know how stressed and lonely you've been. It's my duty to please you." She was slowly sliding herself backwards until she had sandwiched herself in the corner of the cell. "I thought this would relax you. I'm sorry." Janeway realized Kalle was starting to shake again and the fear had returned to her eyes.

Janeway walked over to her and Kalle made herself smaller the closer she got. "Kalle, do you think you belong to me now?" She leaned down to the woman but stopped when Kalle flinched away, as if she was going to be hit. Janeway pulled her hands back and instead knelt in front of Kalle without touching her.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, ma'am." But Janeway didn't believe that she did.

"Kalle, tell me why you just touched me like that."

"I'm sorry, Captain. It's just, I've always served Tal Mayvik like this when he is stressed or angry. I thought maybe you hadn't asked me to do it for you because you didn't know. When you came here tonight, I thought that's what you wanted."

Captain Janeway looked back over the last week and realized she had completely misread the woman's actions. Kalle did believe that she belonged to Janeway and the Captain felt foolish that she hadn't realized it sooner.

"Kalle, this isn't how things work on Voyager. You don't belong to me. I came here tonight because I enjoy your company, not because I expected something from you. If you were to stay with us and not go back to the Trelok, you would be free. We don't believe the way Mayvik treats you is right. You don't deserve that. Nobody does."

Kalle listened to the Captain speak, but couldn't accept what she said to be true. If they weren't keeping her as a slave, then why had they kept her at all? And she knew it wasn't true that she didn't deserve it. She had heard the opposite too many times for it not to be true.

The two of them sat like that for a few more minutes, until Kalle's shaking stopped. Finally, Janeway rose and said, "I should get back to sleep. We can talk about this more tomorrow."

* * *

They didn't end up speaking the next day. The Captain had gone back to her quarters, disturbed by what had occurred. She was beginning to understand that she had underestimated the control Mayvik asserted over Kalle. He hadn't just forced her to serve him, but he had convinced her that she should do it willingly.

The Captain gave an involuntary shiver when she remembered the touch of the woman's hands on her chest and breath on her neck. It had been so long since she had been that close to another person. It bothered Janeway that she couldn't control her response to this. It especially seemed wrong considering that Kalle had done it not because she had wanted to, but because she thought she had to.

Janeway now understood that her attempt to get Kalle to trust her had been the wrong course of action. She thought about her options and finally contacted Chakotay. She told him to look over quarter assignments and see if they could move Kalle out of the brig and into something more comfortable. She had figure out somewhere on the ship where the woman could help out and he assigned her to assist Neelix in the kitchen. She also decided to cancel their morning runs.

Kalle was more confused than ever by this. She knew she had made a mistake, but was unsure of exactly what that mistake had been. She was embarrassed that she had acted inappropriately and ashamed that the Captain had not found her worthy enough to keep in her presence.

Still, she accepted the change because she had no choice and she worked as hard as she could to be useful to Voyager. Neelix and Kes were welcoming and tried their best to fit her into the ship routine. She enjoyed working in the kitchen, quietly amongst the pots and pans and vegetables.

Now that she was more in the middle of things, however, it became obvious that the members of Voyager were wary of her and, even more than that, hostile. Before, she had only spent time in the brig or with the Captain. While Janeway had noticed the unease her crew felt around Kalle, they were never overt about it in front of their Captain. Without her presence around Kalle, though, they were less inclined to hide their feelings.

Kalle tried to be as unobtrusive as possible, but even so she heard the whispers behind her back and the unkind comments in the mess hall when she was serving meals.

The Captain, in the meantime, watched to see how she was settling in from afar. She hoped that the woman would become more comfortable around those who she might not consider to be her superiors. She rationalized her decision by deciding that it wasn't appropriate for her to be spending so much time with one person, anyway.

Unfortunately, she was getting reports from Chakotay about the treatment of Kalle by the crew. She was disappointed to hear that B'Elanna, in particular, was encouraging others not to accept the newcomer. So, instead of coming out of her shell, Kalle retreated even more.

Janeway didn't particularly blame her crew for feeling the way they did, although it disappointed her. They didn't know about Kalle's past, not that the Captain knew much more than them. But she knew enough to know that Kalle was at least partly a victim in what was going on. And if there was something Janeway wouldn't abide by, it was someone weaker being victimized.

There was something else about the woman that was bothering Janeway, that she couldn't pinpoint. Ever since the night in the brig, she felt unsure when she was around her. She usually felt so sure about herself, that the feeling was deeply unsettling.

She was lost in her thoughts about this when she heard a voice talking to her.

"Captain, is there something you'd like to talk about?"

Janeway looked to see her chief security officer walking next to her. She hadn't even noticed him as she was walking slowly through the corridors.

She let out a sigh of relief. She had almost forgotten how much Tuvok acted as a sounding board for her, during the time he had been sick. She invited him back to her quarters and he settled on the couch while Janeway made tea for them both before sitting down.

She sat down near him with their tea, a comfortable silence between them. Finally, Janeway talked to Tuvok about the uncertainty she was feeling about Kalle. About how she didn't know what to do with the woman but felt a connection and sense of obligation towards her. And she finally admitted, both to herself and to the Vulcan across from her, that she felt unsteady around Kalle.

Tuvok had taken it all in quietly, without comment. When at last he spoke, he said, "Captain, I have noticed that Kalle is everything you are not, yet at the same time, is exactly how you are. Perhaps it is this that is bothering you."

Janeway thought about this statement. She hadn't looked at it that way, but she could see that it was true. Kalle was submissive and passive, soft-spoken and deferential. All qualities nobody would accuse Janeway of having. At the same time, Kalle had an underlying strength that the Captain saw the more she spent time with the woman. She had iron-will control over her emotions and what she showed to those around her.

She was so lost in her thoughts, that she had forgotten Tuvok was still sitting there. With a clearing of his throat, he stood up and said, "I should be getting back to duty."

Janeway also stood and nodded absently as he walked towards the door, "Thank you, Tuvok."

It wasn't until later that night, as she was lying in bed, still thinking about Kalle, that she realized what had bothered her the most about what Tuvok had said. What Tuvok had seen so clearly, was that both the Captain and Kalle had shut themselves off from those around them. And it wasn't until this moment that the Captain recognized that the specter of loneliness that stared back at her in the mirror every morning was the same thing she saw in Kalle's eyes every time she looked at her.


	5. Chapter 5

It was still early the next morning when Janeway awoke. She ran herself a bath and spent some more time thinking while she lounged in the bubbles. Once she was dressed and presentable, she checked her clock and then asked the computer to locate Kalle. She was still in her quarters, although the Captain knew that it wouldn't be long before she would be heading to the mess hall.

Janeway strode through her own doors and took the few steps necessary to be standing in front of Kalle's. She hesitated only a moment before activating the doorbell. It took Kalle only a few seconds to open the doors and her eyes widened when she saw the Captain standing on the other side.

"Captain, I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you."

"It's okay, Kalle. I was just wondering if I might come in and chat with you for a bit."

Kalle nervously stepped aside to allow the Captain through the doors and said, "Yes, Captain, of course."

The room that Kalle was now occupying looked as if nobody lived there. The bed was neatly made and there were no personal belongings or clothes anywhere to be seen. Of course, she didn't have anything with her when she came to the ship, but even so, Janeway imagined she would have kept her quarters like this anyway.

They both moved over to the small couch and Kalle asked the Captain if she would like anything to drink. Janeway shook her head.

"Please sit down, Kalle."

With her head down, the younger woman gingerly sat on the edge of the couch, folded her hands in her lap, and waited.

"How do you like your new quarters?"

"They're very comfortable, Captain, thank you."

"And working with Neelix?"

"He has been extremely gracious, Captain. I hope that I have not gotten in his way."

Janeway had already heard her fill from Neelix about the situation. He had quickly come to respect Kalle for her hard work and soft nature. He had come to Janeway numerous times to tell her how outraged he was about how the crew had been treating Kalle. Janeway had urged him to give them time and to help put Kalle in situations where they could see her for who she was. She knew that he had tried, but the crew was slow to accept her. Even when the meals had improved dramatically with her administrations, the behavior towards the woman had not.

"Kalle, I came to apologize for how I reacted to you the last time we spoke. I should have been aware of what was happening. Even though you haven't talked specifically about your life with the Trelok, there were enough signs."

Kalle was still on the couch, other than her hands which were fidgeting nervously. She didn't say anything for a moment and the Captain was almost going to continue when the woman took in a deep breath.

"Captain, you don't need to apologize. I acted inappropriately and feel ashamed that I misunderstood what you wanted. I know you probably don't want me around you anymore, but I promise that if you give me another chance, I won't mess up again."

The Captain closed her eyes, trying to think of a way to respond to this.

"Tell me Kalle, why do you think you're here on this ship?"

"I'm here to serve you, Captain."

"Why do you think that?"

Kalle paused, confused at the question. She wasn't sure what the Captain was getting at and wasn't sure what the correct answer was.

"You captured me, Captain. If you didn't want me as a slave, it would have made more sense to send me back in exchange for the antidote."

"You think you're only worth something as a slave or a bargaining chip?"

Again, confusion in her eyes.

"Yes, Captain."

Janeway sat back against the armrest and thought for a moment. Finally, she tapped her commbadge and said, "Janeway to Neelix."

"Neelix here. What can I do for you today, Captain?"

"Neelix, can you do without Kalle for the day?"

"Of course, Captain. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Neelix, everything is fine."

She stood up from the couch and looked down at Kalle.

"Come with me, I'd like to show you something."

With Kalle following behind the Captain, they wound their way through the ship until they reached engineering. The engineering team was busy at work and hardly took notice of their two visitors.

Janeway and Kalle stood by the warp core, Kalle surprised that the Captain was letting her this close to something so important.

"Take a look around, Kalle, what do you see?"

Kalle was confused. She saw members of the crew working in the engineering department, but didn't know what specifically she should be looking for.

"Captain?"

"Look at the crew in here, what do you notice about them?"

Kalle again looked around her and spent some time studying them. There was the half-human/half-klingon chief, a vulcan ensign, a human, a boolean, and many other races.

"Everyone here is different, Kalle. Everyone serves a purpose in the running of the ship. And everyone is free. There was a time in our history when we kept slaves, but we're long past that.

"The reason you're still on this ship is because you are human and that means you're one of us. Do you understand?"

Kalle didn't know how to answer. She understood what Janeway was saying. She wasn't stupid. She just couldn't believe it.

Janeway saw the uncertainty in her eyes. She knew that one conversation wasn't going to eradicate decades of indoctrination, but she hoped to plant a seed.

"You don't have to believe me right now, but I do want you to give us the chance to prove it to you. Would that be okay?"

"Yes, ma'am, that would be okay."

* * *

Kalle didn't know what would change because of the conversation with the Captain, in fact, she wasn't expecting much. Mostly, she was just happy that the Captain was speaking to her again. After that night in the brig, she had convinced herself that she was upset about the Captain's reaction because she had let the Captain down. And that was definitely part if of it. But if she was being honest with herself, she also just missed her.

At home, she had no friends. Her life consisted solely of Mayvik and the people who worked with him. The Captain was the first person who she had ever actually talked to on a personal level. It made her feel...full.

The next few days marked a significant change in Kalle's life. She and the Captain resumed their morning runs. She was no longer confined to quarters when she wasn't working and Janeway got rid of her security escort. She still wasn't allowed near sensitive areas of the ship, but she was free to go anywhere else that she liked, as long as she was with somebody else. Kalle continued to help in the kitchen, but in the afternoons would spend time with the Captain serving as her "assistant". Instead of taking her meals in her quarters, she ate in the mess hall.

It took a few days for Kalle to get used to the freedom. She had never had any free time to herself and, at first, it made her uncomfortable. She preferred to sit in her room and meditate, something that she didn't remember being taught to do, but had always found helped to keep her calm and to drive away any pain she was feeling.

But Captain Janeway saw to it that she didn't spend all her time alone. She accompanied her to all the meals, or enlisted others to invite her. It began with Neelix and Kes and then Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Tuvok started joining them.

Kalle had already become used to the Captain and both Neelix and Kes were so unassuming, that Kalle felt as much as ease with them as she could. When the male commanding officers sat with her, though, it took all her concentration to keep her nerves from getting to her.

In her experience, men in positions of authority only meant bad news. Chakotay, especially, had such a strong physical presence that it was all she could do not to bolt every time he was near. Chakotay saw how she seemed to shrink into herself when he was around and tried his best to speak softly and move slowly around her.

The one positive of having the commanding officers sit with her was the reprieve from the stares and whispers from the rest of the crew. No one dared say anything while their superiors were around, especially after a few had gotten a warning from Chakotay about their behavior. There was still bitterness towards her about how fooled they had all been by the Trelok and how much it was still affecting their lives. B'Elanna was still having difficulty accepting Kalle, even after Janeway talked to her and asked her to take it easy on the woman. At this point in their trip, so many of the crew looked up to and respected Torres, it was easy for her to set a tone for those around her.

It didn't help that Kalle's demeanor was easily misread by those not close to her. Unless she was scared, she carried herself in a stately way, much like the rest of the Trelok. She kept her hair pulled back severely and the features on her angular face calm and expressionless. Janeway had never seen her smile and it came across to the rest of the crew that she thought she was better than them.

Janeway realized that if she wanted to integrate Kalle into crew life, she was going to have to be more proactive in getting Kalle to interact with others. It was difficult enough for Kalle to feel comfortable with one or two other people around her. In groups, she shut down completely, not speaking unless directly asked a question and even then with short, clipped responses.

If Janeway was going to make Kalle a part of Voyager, she was going to need to think outside the box. And that was something she excelled at.

* * *

When they were still a few weeks away from Brahid, Kalle met the Captain in front of their quarters for their daily run, just like usual. They walked through the ship to the holodeck, where Kalle saw Lieutenant Torres waiting. Kalle shrank back behind Janeway, while the Captain strode ahead and smiled at her chief engineer.

"Lieutenant, thank you for coming."

"Captain? I thought that you wanted me to work on something with you." She was looking at Kalle in confusion, unsure why the woman was with them.

"Yes, I do. Actually, I have something I need to attend to separately and I didn't want Kalle to miss our morning workout. I was thinking it would be helpful for her to learn some defensive skills. With your fighting repertoire, I was hoping you would teach her."

"But, Captain..." Torres sputtered and then said more quietly, "I'd rather not."

"I know, B'Elanna, but it's an order, not a request."

Janeway turned around and faced Kalle, "This will be good for you, Kalle. You should know how to protect yourself. I'll see you at lunch."

As the Captain walked away, Torres glared at Kalle.

"Just so you know, I don't trust you." She turned and walked through the doors to the holodeck but turned back when Kalle didn't follow. "Well, come on."

B'Elanna had a number of different programs she used to to keep in fighting form. Paris had tried his best to get her to use his Klingon program, but the truth was, she preferred a fighting style that was more a mixture of agility, speed, and, yes, brute strength (she was half-klingon, afterall).

She had never taught anybody else, though, and was less than thrilled to be working with this Pahtak.

Instead of activating one of her normal programs, she instructed the computer to set them up with a basic exercise area. Kalle hung back and B'Elanna gestured to her impatiently.

"Come stand on the mat. What do you know about fighting?"

"I..I..was taught some growing up." She blushed with embarrassment at her stuttering. It didn't happen often, but Torres made Kalle extremely nervous.

Torres rolled her eyes, not impressed by what she thought was an act.

"Fine, I'm going to come at you and you try to defend yourself. That way I can see what we have to work with."

B'Elanna got into her fighting stance and gestured for Kalle to do the same. Kalle stood with her feet apart, arms raised up uncertainly.

Moving at about half-speed, B'Elanna swung her arm around at Kalle's head. Without thinking, Kalle sidestepped away, spun around and used their momentum to push the Lieutenant away from her. B'Elanna, caught off guard, went sprawling face first onto the floor.

Immediately, Kalle crouched down next to the woman and said, "I'm s-s-sorry, ma'am. I d-didn't mean to do that."

Torres brushed her off and stood back up. "You were taught 'some', huh? Right."

They reset themselves and, this time, Torres didn't hold back when she attacked Kalle. She threw multiple punches at the woman, which were blocked with ease. Kalle was light on her feet and danced away from Torres. Every punch B'Elanna threw, Kalle deflected and even used to her advantage, pushing Torres away or pulling her off balance.

After a few minutes of being ineffectual, B'Elanna stepped up the action. She started incorporating kicks and spins, each move coming one after another, without pause. Kalle made no move to go on the offensive, content to glide around the floor parrying the advances made by Torres.

A half hour later, B'Elanna was sweaty and breathing hard, while Kalle had barely broken a sweat. B'Elanna called for a stop, grabbed a towel and walked around the edge of the floor so that her muscles wouldn't cramp.

"I think that Captain Janeway underestimates you and that she's making a mistake. But, since I have no choice, I will be here tomorrow. Don't be late."

With that, she walked out of the holodeck leaving Kalle behind.

* * *

The Captain joined the women the next morning. She was slightly worried about what had happened the day before, seeing that B'Elanna had just growled at her when asked about it and Kalle's only response was that "it was fine".

Janeway hoped that the time together would forge a bond between the two women. Kalle was so passive that Janeway felt it was important that she learn some basic defense skills. Killing two birds with one stone seemed like a good idea, but now she was thinking she had made a mistake leaving them alone together so soon.

When Janeway entered the holodeck, the two women had already begun. Janeway did a double take when she saw what was happening.

Like the day before, B'Elanna was going at Kalle without restraint. Kalle was gracefully avoiding her, executing blocks, and diving and rolling out of the way when necessary, only to spring back to her feet to continue. Her hair was neatly braided down her back and her leggings and tank top showed off her lithe body. Janeway felt a rush of blood run through her body while watching, but ignored it as the women noticed their Captain standing there.

"Well, either B'Elanna is an excellent teacher or, Kalle, you're much more knowledgeable about this than I thought."

Kalle looked down, "Ma'am, I was trained when I was younger, so that I could protect Tal Mayvik if needed."

"I see. I guess I should have asked before all of this. Well, let's see it then."

"Ma'am?"

"You can't tell me that's the best you can do?"

Kalle looked at Janeway nervously.

"Captain, I don't know if I should..."

"Kalle, let's see it. B'Elanna can handle herself."

Kalle dropped her gaze and nodded, "Yes, ma'am".

The women settled themselves back on the mat and Janeway indicated they should begin.

Kalle had Torres scrambling in less than a minute. Her movements were so quick, Janeway could barely keep up with what was happening. Torres was feeling the same way, fending off the blows as well as she could, but barely able to stay in the fight. Finally, B'Elanna stumbled trying to avoid an elbow to her head. Kalle quickly swept her leg in a circle and took her opponent out at the feet. B'Elanna landed on her back and immediately found Kalle above her, a fist aimed at her face. Flinching away, she turned her head, waiting for the blow. When nothing happened, she turned back to find Kalle's hand inches from her face.

Kalle opened her fist and turned her hand over to offer Torres help getting up. B'Elanna took one look at it and slapped the arm aside before standing up on her own .

She brushed by, grabbed a towel, and turned to the Captain.

"Permission to be excused, Captain."

Janeway frowned, disappointed by how hard her chief engineer was being.

"You are excused, Lieutenant. We'll see you here tomorrow morning."

Janeway turned back to Kalle, who was still standing in the middle of the room. Beads of sweat glistened on her shoulders and her face was glowing a flushed red.

"Give her some time, she'll come around."

"It's okay, Captain. I understand."

"You're being too gracious, Kalle.

* * *

It was Tom Paris who first made overtures of friendship towards Kalle. He had decided that the woman deserved the benefit of the doubt and who was he to judge her? It didn't hurt that she was beautiful and single.

He began inviting her to dinner and to the holodeck. Kalle, never having been invited anywhere before, complied with his requests even though they made her nervous. But, with his joking nature and easy personality, she slowly started becoming acquainted with him and the other crew members he spent time with.

She found herself relaxing a little bit each day, still not letting her guard down, but also not feeling the same nervousness anytime somebody got close to her. The men, in particular, were quite taken with her beauty and so spent their time flirting with and teasing her. Kalle was bewildered at this, as she had always been a sure thing to the men she had lived with. There was no need to seduce her at home.

Despite herself, though, she found she enjoyed spending time with others and even found herself smiling shyly at the overtures of friendship. Between this new development and her time with the Captain, she was finding life on Voyager enjoyable.

It was only her sessions with Lieutenant Torres that kept her on edge. They continued to meet everyday, even though it was obvious Kalle didn't need any training. Instead of sparring, they had moved onto using B'Elanna's programs and fighting imaginary foes. Captain Janeway sometimes joined them, but mostly it was the two of them.

Torres continued to make it clear that she was not happy about the situation. She barely spoke to Kalle and left the holodeck as soon as the program was finished. Kalle tried to stay out of her way and focus on the exercise.

* * *

They were a little less than a week away from Brahid and it was early morning when the ship had a power failure. Lieutenant Torres and Kalle were in the middle of a particularly grueling program when the scene around them flickered for a moment before returning to normal. Torres paused, immediately knowing something was wrong.

"Computer, pause program."

Nothing happened. Kalle had just dispatched the one opponent nearest her and turned towards Torres.

"Computer, end program."

The computer responded, "Cannot comply. Holodeck controls are currently offline."

"Computer, display arch."

"Cannot comply. Holodeck controls are currently offline."

B'Elanna had turned her back from the fighting during this, frustration evident on her face. In that moment, a Klingon fighter came running out of the woods, growling, and B'Elanna only had a moment to react before he had used his Bat'Leth to slice through her thigh. With a scream, she grabbed the sword from him, grappling against his strength. With a swift motion, she pushed the weapon into his face, causing him to let go, and swung the blade around to finish him off. As he dematerialized, she fell to the ground grabbing her leg.

Kalle rushed over to her, but B'Elanna growled at her, "I'm fine. Computer, open the holodeck doors."

Nothing happened.

"Please, Lieutenant, let me help you."

Torres lifted her hands from her leg and blood gushed out. "The holodeck safeties are obviously off."

Kalle tore off her shirt, leaving her only in a sports bra, and proceeded to tear it into strips. She grabbed one of them and wrapped it around B'Elanna's leg, above the wound, tying it off tightly. With another strip, she laid it over the wound and applied pressure.

B'Elanna didn't make a noise during all of this. When Kalle was done, Torres told her to go over to their stuff and find their commbadges.

"Torres to Janeway."

"Janeway here. B'Elanna, we could use your help in engineering."

"I would love to, Captain. Unfortunately, Kalle and I are stuck in the holodeck. Controls are offline, as are the safeties. I've been hurt and if my calculations are correct, we're about to have a whole bunch of Klingons to fight in about 2 minutes."

There had been no more opponents to fight for the last few minutes, but only because Torres had programmed a break in the middle of the action before a second wave began.

"Understood, Lieutenant. I'm sending a team to get you out of there. Hang on. Janeway out."

"Any ideas, Kalle? I don't think I'm going to be much help to you. Think you can handle them all on your own?"

Kalle looked nervous but answered, "Yes, ma'am."

A minute later, four Klingons converged on them. Kalle had helped Torres move so that she had her back against a large rock outcropping. Kalle had set herself up in front of the injured woman, so that hopefully none of their opponents could get to her.

Torres had thought that Kalle had moved quicky before, but it was nothing compared to now. She was a blur in front of her, easily dispatching the first Klingon before taking his weapon and turning to the second. She couldn't finish him though, before the two others were racing towards Torres.

Kalle turned her back on her current opponent in time to trip up one of the Klingons heading toward Torres. She lept over him and threw her body into the other, knocking them both to the ground. She quickly rolled away and sprung up, Bat'Leth in hand. She swung it over her head and impaled the man on the ground.

B'Elanna struggled to get up and help, but she had lost so much blood that she was drained of energy. Instead, she yelled towards Kalle, who was grappling with the man closest to Torres, as she saw the other Klingon come up from behind.

It was too late though, as he wrapped his hands around Kalle's neck. She tried to gasp for air, but came up with nothing. Writhing in his grip, she wrenched her body, trying to free herself. Bringing her hands up, she reached for his eyes with her fingers and he dropped her as he grabbed at his face in pain.

Reaching behind her, Kalle grasped at a knife that was sticking in her opponents belt, pulled it out, and stabbed, exhaling when the man dropped to the ground. She saw her final opponent coming back at her, bringing her knife in front of her a half second too late to avoid the swipe at her face. Blood gushed above her eye, flowing down and obstructing her view.

She stumbled backwards and the Klingon bared his lips, smiling at her. He brought his Bat'Leth high above his head, but a look of surprise came over his face as Kalle flicked her wrist and the knife she had just been holding protruded from the Klingon's chest. With a guttural cry, he slumped to the ground.

Kalle wiped the blood away from her face and rushed over to B'Elanna to see if she was okay.

"I'm fine, stop fussing. But you're bleeding. A lot." Torres grabbed what was left of the ripped shirt. "Come here."

She wrapped a piece around Kalle's head and after a moment, the blood stopped flowing into the rest of Kalle's face. Both women slumped exhaustedly against the rock.

"Well, I guess now we wait."

She tapped her commbadge and notified the Captain that they were both alive, but would appreciate some help soon. Janeway told them that there was a crew working on getting the doors open and it would only be a few more minutes.

As they sat back to wait, B'Elanna looked at Kalle, something clearly on her mind.

"Kalle, I noticed the scars on your body. I know it's none of my business, but..." Her voice trailed off, unsure of whether she should continue or give Kalle her privacy. She had seen the scars immediately when Kalle had removed her shirt. There were too many to just be battle wounds, unless Kalle had spent a life time fighting.

The other woman didn't look at her, but Torres noticed her hands tighten around each other and her face flushed in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"No, ma'am, it's okay. I got the scars from being punished."

Torres looked at her in disbelief, "From being punished? Punished for what?"

"For making mistakes, for doing the wrong thing, for not doing things well enough." Kalle was really embarrassed now. It was humiliating that somebody else should know how inadequate she was.

"Did Mayvik do this to you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

B'Elanna thought about this for a moment before saying quietly, "I'm sorry."

It wasn't clear what she was apologizing for, but Kalle accepted it for what it was.

A moment later, doors appeared in front of them and Janeway rushed through as they slid open.


	6. Chapter 6

After that, there was no animosity between Torres and Kalle anymore. Janeway wished they could have resolved their issues less dramatically, but seeing that everyone was okay, she was just happy that it worked out.

Once B'Elanna accepted Kalle, it seemed that everything fell into place. Everyday Kalle let her guard down a little bit further. Janeway could coax smiles and, once or twice, a laugh out of the woman. She lost her anxiousness around the men, even Chakotay.

Janeway also found that she was happier than she had been in a long time. She woke up every morning looking forward to the time she would spend with Kalle. Spending time around the woman had also changed the dynamic between Janeway and her crew. In trying to integrate Kalle more, Janeway was spending more time with those who worked under her. At first, B'Elanna or Tom would invite Kalle to do something and then ask Janeway out of a sense of obligation. As they became used to her presence and, as she relaxed around them and became more comfortable in casual settings, they began to invite her because they enjoyed her company.

And she enjoyed theirs. She wondered how she had thought that staying so aloof really was necessary to run the ship. She still didn't let her guard down entirely and her personal thoughts were still her own, but her crew was able to find that she had a wicked sense of humor and could drink almost anyone under the table.

In the meantime, Voyager finally reached Brahid. They approached the planet cautiously, running scans and sending out greetings, with no response. The first time the planet had been put on the viewscreen, everybody on the bridge had been stunned. It looked so similar to Earth, it was uncanny. The continents were in different shapes, but the color of the oceans and then greens of the forests brought them all back to seeing Earth from space.

Their scans, however, could find no signs of life, something that was quite unusual for such a vibrant looking planet. Janeway ordered an away team to beam down and do some reconnaissance, but was stymied when their transporters couldn't get a lock anywhere on the ground.

Finally, she had Tom put the ship into orbit and she assembled the senior staff in the conference room.

"Options?"

Tuvok was the first to respond, "Captain, I would suggest that we run some tests on the planet to see what is blocking our transporters and sensors."

Chakotay chimed in, "We could also send a shuttle down."

Janeway nodded, "We'll do both. Chakotay, you'll head the away team. Tuvok, take Harry and figure out what is going on with our sensors. Dismissed."

The Captain was heading to her ready room when her commbadge chirped, "Captain, it's Kalle. I was wondering if I could speak with you?"

"Of course, Kalle. Meet me in my ready room."

When Kalle arrived, she looked flustered and tense. Janeway immediately walked over to her and placed her hands on the woman's shoulders.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes, ma'am. It's just that...I've seen this planet before."

"You've been here before? When? For what?"

Kalle shook her head, "I can't remember. I just know that I've been here. When I looked out the window in my quarters, I felt a sense of recognition. But I don't know why."

Janeway smiled, "Kalle, maybe this planet will hold some clues as to your past before the Trelok."

She strode towards the door to the bridge, "Come on, let's see what Commander Chakotay has to say about what's down there."

Once on the bridge, she turned towards the communications officer on duty.

"Any word from the away team?"

"No, Captain, we haven't heard from them since they last checked in as they entered the atmosphere."

Janeway frowned. It had been enough time that they should have already set down on the planet.

"Hail them, ensign."

After a pause, "No response, Captain."

Janeway turned towards Tuvok and Kim, who were working on the sensors.

"What's going on, gentleman?"

"Captain, there is a good chance that the away team is okay and that their communication devices became inoperable due to the same interference that is causing our sensors to malfunction."

Janeway thought about this and made a decision, "We'll give them an hour, if we don't hear back, we'll send down a search party."

* * *

The hour was a long one for Janeway. She hated not knowing all the details and feeling out of control. When the hour had passed with no sign of the away team, the Captain started to assemble a second team.

It was only a few minutes later that Chakotay's voice came through a static filled line.

"Chakotay to Voyager."

"Voyager here, Commander. Are you okay?" Janeway's racing heart was slowly settling down at hearing Chakotay's voice.

"Yes, Captain. Our communications were blocked once we hit the atmosphere, but everything seemed fine when we landed, so we wanted to take the opportunity to explore a little."

"Understood, meet me in my ready room once you've docked."

A half hour later, Chakotay, Kalle, and Janeway were in the ready room discussing the planet.

"Captain, none of our equipment works down there. Communicators, tricorders, phasers, nothing. That being said, the place seemed completely uninhabited. We did notice wildlife, but nothing more. At least in the area that we were in. The ecology of the land is very similar to Earth."

Janeway was perplexed at this, wondering why the Tamlon had sent them to an uninhabited planet.

"Captain? I'd like to go down there, if you would permit it." Kalle's face was a mask to Janeway.

"Since it seems you're the only one who's been here before, I don't think that would be a bad idea."

She turned towards Chakotay, who had started to stand up to reassemble the away team.

"Commander, I will accompany her to the surface."

Chakotay started to protest, but stopped when he realized it wouldn't make a difference. With a nod, he turned and exited the room.

* * *

An hour later, Janeway, Kalle, and two security officers made their way down to the surface. When the shuttle bay doors opened, Kalle walked out into the air, breathing deeply.

She turned to Janeway and said, "I know this place."

With Kalle taking off towards the woods, Janeway motioned for one guard to stay with the shuttle and the other to follow them.

All of Kalle's senses were assaulted as she walked through the trees. The smells, in particular, were bringing her back to her childhood. She could picture running with others, kids her own age. She reached another clearing and stopped short. The tall grasses swayed in the breeze and Kalle closed her eyes to listen to the wind whistle through them.

When Janeway caught up with Kalle, she found her kneeling on the ground, running her hands against the surface.

Without turning to look at the Captain, Kalle said, "This is where I grew up. There are people here."

Janeway looked around her, "There are people here now?"

As she said it, figures began to appear through the trees, surrounding them. As they got closer, Janeway noticed that they all looked eerily human.

It was a mixed group of men and women and they appeared to be unarmed. They were dressed in leather outfits, the kind Janeway associated with the Native Americans from Earth's history.

When the group had formed a circle around the three, a tall woman with wavy blond hair and sharp features stepped forward. She took an assessing look at Janeway and then, turning towards Kalle, she smiled broadly and said, "Kalle, is that you?"

"Avani?" The blonde woman smiled and nodded at Kalle's uncertainty. She beckoned to her and opened her arms, which Kalle walked into. Avani embraced her tightly and leaned her cheek against Kalle's head. The gesture seemed to Janeway like something that had been done many times before.

Janeway studied the woman closer, trying to decipher the relationship between her and Kalle. She didn't seem old enough to be her mother, but the embrace was intimate enough to suggest a high level of closeness.

Avani noticed Janeway studying them and let go of Kalle, turning towards the Captain.

"Would you like to introduce me to your friends, Kalle?"

Kalle walked over to Janeway and said, "This is Kathryn Janeway. She is the Captain of the ship that's in orbit. They took me from the Trelok and have been letting me stay on their ship."

"I see. Captain Kathryn Janeway, if you're the reason Kalle is no longer with the Trelok, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Brahid. Please, come with us. We'd like to invite you for dinner."

Janeway's mind was racing as they walked with the Brahids. She wanted to know how Kalle knew these people, if she didn't remember anything from her childhood. She wanted to know if they were human and, if so, how they had ended up here. And she wanted to know what Kalle's relationship was to this Avani. Despite herself, she found herself feeling jealous of the other woman.

Even so, Avani seemed genuine. Janeway fell into step beside her.

"Avani, I am honored to be invited to dinner with your people. I am extremely interested to learn more about you and your relationship to Kalle. We do, however, need to check in with my ship. Our communication devices don't seem to work on the planet. Do you have anyway for us to contact them?"

Avani smiled at the Captain, "Your communications devices should work now, Captain. Try them again."

Janeway fell back behind Avani and tapped her commbadge, "Janeway to Voyager."

"Voyager here, Captain. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, we've made contact with the inhabitants of the planet. They've invited us for dinner."

"How are you able to transmit to us, Captain?"

"I'm not sure, Commander. I'd like to stay here for a bit, though. Will you put together a small diplomatic team and have them meet us on the surface?"

* * *

The group walked for about twenty minutes through the woods before they seemed to reach a wall of vines. As Avani walked up to it, it parted as if it were the sliding doors on Voyager, and they all walked through.

Captain Janeway's breath caught in her chest at what was on the other side. It was a village, built amongst the trees. The trees seemed to blend into the houses and vice versa. There was an organic feeling to the place that was overwhelming.

The houses were set in a circle, overlooking a clearing that somehow wasn't open to the sky. Janeway looked up and saw that the trees around the clearing had grown together to form a lattice above them. Behind the first circle of houses, more seemed to extend out in a spiral. She couldn't tell where they ended.

In the clearing, people were busy putting together a dinner gathering. Wooden tables were being set out in a circle and covered with place settings. Plates of food were appearing from the houses and set buffet style along the tables.

There was an air of celebration about the place and Janeway wondered what they were here to celebrate.

No sooner did she have the thought that Avani stepped forward from the group, into the middle of the clearing. With a clear, ringing voice, she called out to the people around them.

"Kalle is home! Let's celebrate!"

Her voice carried through the village and Janeway had no doubt people she couldn't even see had heard. Cheers echoed through the trees.

Kalle was standing awkwardly, looking confused and embarrassed.

Avani walked over to her and squeezed her around the shoulders with her arm.

"I know this is overwhelming for you, Kalle. But I can't take this moment away from them," she gestured towards the people around them. "We'll have time later to sit down and talk."

Despite the excitement of the Brahids, Janeway noticed that none of them attempted to come up to Kalle and talk to her. They gave her space and Janeway wondered if that was out of respect or for some other reason.

Avani took Janeway and Kalle around the village, showing them the layout and talking to them about the architecture. Janeway was fascinated by the way everything was built and continually asked questions. Kalle stayed quiet, but Janeway noticed the recognition in her eyes become more pronounced as the tour went on.

They rejoined the group at the center of the village, right when the feast was ready. Many people sat at the tables, with others perched on anything available. Kalle sat in between Janeway and Avani, quietly eating and taking everything in.

When they were finished eating and the food had been taken away, instruments were pulled out and music started up. The tables were pulled away and people started dancing. Janeway glanced over to Kalle and saw that the woman looked exhausted. Avani came over to them and led them to a house that was set back a few rows from the clearing.

The home was two levels and brightly lit, although Janeway couldn't figure out where the light was coming from. Living tree trunks grew out of the floor and up through the middle of rooms. The house was tastefully decorated and gave Janeway a feeling of comfort.

"This is my home," Avani said. "I'd be honored if the two of you would stay here with me. I'll make sure the other members of your crew have comfortable lodging as well."

She showed them to two rooms upstairs and finally hugged Kalle saying, "I'll see you in the morning."

Kalle looked ready to drop from exhaustion and Janeway let her be after wishing her a good night. She crawled into the bed in her room, deep in thought, until the events from the long day took their toll on her and she fell asleep.

She woke abruptly, feeling that something was not right. Opening her eyes, she waited a few minutes for them to adjust to the darkness. She sat up and her heart skipped a beat when she saw a figure in the door.

"Kalle? Are you okay?"

Kalle nodded, but didn't move. Janeway got out of the bed and walked to the woman, to find that Kalle was shaking.

"I couldn't sleep. I was wondering, could I stay with you, Captain?"

"Of course, Kalle."

Janeway led her back to the bed and crawled in, pushing herself to the other side, closest to the wall.

"Come, there's plenty of room."

Kalle slid in beside her and Janeway wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close to her chest. In a few minutes, she could hear even breathing, indicating that Kalle had fallen asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Janeway woke to Kalle slipping out of the bed. She opened her eyes and was blinded by the light streaming through openings in the ceiling. Both woman washed up and dressed quickly. They made their way downstairs to find Avani sitting at a table by the kitchen.

With a single sniff, Janeway smiled and walked forward.

"That smells suspiciously like coffee."

Avani responded, "Especially made for you, Captain. I hope you both slept well."

Both women nodded and sat down at the table. Janeway took a sip from the mug set in front of her and closed her eyes when the liquid hit her tastebuds. Everything about this place seemed perfect.

"Avani, I have to admit, my curiosity is getting the better of me. Can you explain how you know Kalle?"

"Of course, Captain. I am Kalle's godmother."

Janeway looked at Kalle, but the other woman did not seem surprised.

"Kalle was taken from us almost twenty years ago by the Trelok."

She went on to explain that Kalle had grown up in this village with her parents. When Kalle was twelve, the Trelok had come and attacked the village, taking Kalle with them. They had tried to get her back, but their space technology was not on par with the Trelok's and they were forced to give up. Avani looked pained as she said this.

Kalle looked at Avani, "And my parents?"

Sympathy filled Avani's eyes and she shook her head, "I'm sorry, Kalle, they were killed in the attack."

Kalle nodded her head, "I guess I already knew that."

She listened to the Captain and Avani talking for a few more minutes before she stood up from the table and looked at the Captain, "Permission to be excused, Captain."

"You don't need my permission to leave, Kalle." Janeway knew that the woman wasn't asking because she felt she needed the Captain's permission, she was asking because she wanted the security of the relationship.

"I'd just like to take a walk. I'll be back soon."

When Kalle left, Janeway turned back to Avani.

"Captain, you must have a lot of questions for me. But, first, can you tell me how Kalle came to be on your ship?"

"We found Kalle when the Trelok took over Voyager. She's been with us for a few months as we've tried to escape them. They are very persistent both in pursuing us and in wanting Kalle back. Why is she so important to them?"

"I can't answer that question for you. But, I can tell you, we're thrilled to have Kalle back with us. And we're eternally grateful to you for bringing her here." She looked at Janeway assessingly. "You two seem very close."

Janeway nodded, "Kalle went through a lot while she was with the Trelok. It was a long process getting her acclimated to live on Voyager. She is just learning to trust us. It seems you expect that she'll stay here with you."

"This is where she belongs, Captain. She has a lot of healing to do, as you know."

"Avani, Kalle is human."

"So am I, Captain. We all are."

"What?" Janeway was shocked.

"We are your relatives. Hundreds of years ago, my ancestors were brought to the Delta Quadrant by the Borg. They were abandoned when their Borg cube crashed and they were disconnected by the collective. They came to this planet because it reminded them so much of home. And now, here we are."

"The Borg? Are they nearby?"

"Don't worry, Captain. They haven't been to this portion of the quadrant in ages."

Their conversation ended when a knock on the door interrupted them and Avani was pulled away on other business.

"We can talk more later, Captain."

* * *

Janeway caught up with Kalle outside, finding the woman heading away from the village on the path they had come in on the day before.

"Kalle, are you okay?"

"I remember it all now, Captain. I grew up here. I had a family and friends. I was happy."

Janeway pulled her to a stop and hugged her to her chest. "I'm sorry, Kalle."

They stood like that for a minute before Kalle pulled away and kept walking.

"I also remember why the Trelok took me."

Janeway grabbed Kalle's arm, stopping her and moving to stand in front of her.

"Why?"

"The Trelok wouldn't leave us alone. They wanted our technology and we spent years fighting them. What they didn't know was that what they thought was technology, was actually something in our physiology. When they realized this, they became even more interested in us."

"What was it that they were so interested in?"

"We have parapsychological abilities."

"You mean telephathy?"

"I don't know Captain, I wasn't old enough to start learning about it. It was something we hone over years of practice."

Kalle seemed to be deep in thought for a few minutes and then she continued.

"We used those abilities to set up defenses. They are the reason that most of your technology doesn't work here. The Trelok were unable to use the technology they already had to attack. Finally, they decided that they would kidnap a few members of our society to do research on how our physiology worked. They ended up with me."

"What happened when they first took you?"

Kalle looked down, remembering.

"They did tests on me. They interrogated me. But I didn't know anything. And their tests never revealed anything. So they decided to erase my memory and keep me as a slave. They must have given up on the rest of my people."

They had come out of the woods and Janeway stopped at the view that was spread out before them. A long sloping field made it's way down to the shore of a lake. Behind the lake, mountains rose up out of the water.

Janeway turned towards Kalle, "Avani wants you to stay here."

Kalle didn't look Janeway, but stared up at the mountains, "I know."

* * *

They spent the next few days getting Kalle reacquainted with her former home. She met people that she had grown up with and explored the surrounding countryside. She spent a lot of time with Avani, who Janeway found out was the leader of the village.

Janeway came and went from the planet, alternately seeing to things on the ship and spending time with the Brahidian elders discussing the Trelok. They were willing to help Voyager protect themselves against the aggressors, but both sides were unable to come up with a way that could happen. Janeway had met with the senior staff and they were also working on how to defend themselves when the Trelok inevitably showed up.

The members of the diplomatic team sent down by Chakotay were spending time learning about the culture on Brahid. They were collecting fascinating information on the similarities and differences between the two sets of humans.

The Captain did spend every night on the planet and Kalle continued to find her way to Janeway's room at night.

As Kalle became more acclimated to her old life, Janeway found she felt a pressure pushing at her chest. She worried that Kalle would pick this life over Voyager and then berated herself since it was obvious that Kalle belonged here.

She didn't know why it mattered to her that much. She knew she had grown attached to the woman and that her life had changed drastically since Kalle had come on board. But she had seen more people come and go from her life than she could count. She had hardened herself to it.

Then, one day it became clear. Janeway was sitting in the clearing chatting with some of the members of the village. Something caught her eye and when she turned to see what it was, she realized it was Kalle's dark hair flashing in the sun. The woman was walking across the clearing towards the house. Her well defined and tanned arms hung by her side and her hair was caught up slightly in the wind. She raised her hand to brush the hair away from her face and Janeway felt her throat catch at the sight of her slender fingers brushing against her face.

All in that moment, Janeway couldn't believe she had been so ignorant of her own feelings. She had spent years making sure she stayed centered and focused on her ship. And this woman had waltzed in and had changed it all. Janeway wasn't sure what she was going to do.

* * *

After a few days on the planet, Avani approached the two women, who were sitting in the clearing.

"Kalle, we never had time to begin your training when you were younger. Would you like to start now?"

Kalle's eyes lit up and she nodded. But then she turned to the Captain hesitantly.

"Only if it's okay with you, Captain. I've been neglecting my duties on the ship, maybe I should return there."

"Kalle, you make your own schedule now.

Avani watched the exchange and then interrupted, "Captain Janeway can join us, if she'd like."

"I'd love to." She wouldn't have missed it for the world, honestly.

Avani and Kalle sat across from each other, legs crossed. Captain Janeway looked on from a bench a few yards away. They were in a small clearing a short walk from the village. The sun was high in the sky, beating down on their shoulders. The air around them was quiet.

Janeway settled herself comfortably so that any fidgeting on her part wouldn't disrupt the two other women.

Avani looked at Kalle and said, "Are you ready to begin?"

Kalle glanced at the Captain and then responded, "Yes, ma'am, I am."

"Okay, tell me what you know about telepathy."

"It's when you can communicate through your thoughts."

Avani nodded slightly, "Yes, that's the bare bones of it. Tell me, can you hear what others are thinking?"

Janeway leaned forward for the answer. Every since finding out that Kalle might have parapsychological abilities, she had wondered about this.

But Kalle shook her head, "No, I can't."

"I've noticed that you make Captain Janeway coffee a few times a day." Janeway blushed at that. It seemed an embarrassing thing when stated by somebody else. "How do you know when she wants it?"

Kalle cocked her head to the side and thought for a moment. "I just...know."

"You have to do better than that, Kalle. What does she do to make you aware? Does she fidget? Get cranky?"

Janeway hoped she wasn't that obvious.

"No, ma'am. I guess, I just feel it. When I focus on her, I get an impression from her."

Avani nodded. "Tell me what you know about psychokinesis."

"It's the ability to move objects with your mind."

"Again, yes, that's the short version. And that's where our gift comes in. When you think of telepathy, you think of hearing thoughts. When you think of psychokinesis, you think of moving objects. Your ability combines these two concepts. You can "hear" objects. More specifically, the energy of objects. And by the time we're done here, you'll also be able to move things by controlling that energy."

"Let's go back to the coffee example. How do you know when she wants some? Do you think about it first or does it just come to you?"

Kalle thought about this. "I think it's more that I 'check in'. When I focus on her, I get an impression."

"Okay, try it now. 'Check in' with the Captain and tell me what you feel."

Kalle closed her eyes and concentrated. After a minute, she opened her eyes and said, "I'm not getting anything."

"That's because you're trying too hard. Do what you normally do."

This time, instead of closing her eyes, Kalle looked over to the Captain. She tilted her head as if she was trying to hear something quiet. Minutes went by, but Janeway thought something must be different, because she wasn't giving up like before. Finally, Kalle's eyes widened and she turned to Avani.

"What happened this time?"

"I could 'see' what she was feeling."

"What do you mean, see?"

"Her body is glowing."

"And what is she feeling."

Kalle shrugged as if what the Captain was actually feeling was insignificant compared to the glow around her, "Interest, in what we're talking about."

Avani smiled. Kalle was a quick study. What the Trelok hadn't anticipated was that the time Kalle had spent with them had honed both her observational skills and her concentration. Both things that would help her now.

"Okay. But that's just the surface. Go deeper. Tell me something more about her. Tell me something she wants. Besides coffee."

"Wants?"

"Yes, in a larger sense. Not in this moment, but in life."

Kalle frowned. She turned back to the Captain. Now that she knew what she was looking for, it was clear, like looking through glass. It was amazing that she hadn't seen it before.

When she looked at the Captain this time, she went past what she saw on the outside and focused on what was below that. When she found it, she gasped and fell back as if something had pushed her.

"What is it?" Avani asked quietly. "What does she want?"

"Me. She wants me."

Kalle jumped to her feet when she said the words and, after a pause, turned and ran out of the clearing.

Avani looked over at Janeway, who had stood up and was watching Kalle's retreating back.

"I'm sorry, I should have known that's what she would have seen."

Janeway glanced over to Avani.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Maybe not to most. But, yes, there are signs."

Janeway sighed. "I didn't realize it myself until recently"

"She needs you, you know."

Janeway shook her head, "She needs a home."

Avani didn't respond to that, but said, "Maybe you should go talk to her."

Kathryn nodded, not really wanted to confront the subject, but knowing that she had to face it eventually.

She followed the path that Kalle had taken. It led out to the lake, where she found Kalle standing at the shore.

Janeway approached her slowly and Kalle turned around when she got closer.

"Kalle, I'm sorry. Obviously, I didn't know that would happen."

Kalle couldn't look Janeway in the eye so instead looked at the ground.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run away. I just didn't know how to respond. I don't understand."

Janeway stepped closer and reached out and took Kalle's chin in her fingers, lifting her head up. She focused on the green in her eyes and could see uncertainty reflected there. Kathryn raised her other hand and pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen into Kalle's face.

When Kalle didn't move, Kathryn leaned forward and Kalle involuntarily made a noise in the back of her throat, which she unsuccessfully tried to swallow back. Kathryn paused, but didn't see any fear in Kalle's eyes. She continued forward and lightly brushed her lips against Kalle's. Eyes still locked, Kathryn took Kalle's lower lip softly between her own two and ran her tongue along it, taking in the taste of the woman.

Another noise came from Kalle's throat and her eyes closed. Despite the desire throbbing in Kathryn's chest, she forced herself to pull back and attempted to reassert control over her breathing while watching Kalle's face. Kalle didn't move when Kathryn's lips left her own and she stood for a moment with her chest rising and falling gently.

Kalle let Kathryn run a finger over the lip she had just kissed before abruptly turning away.

"I can't." She whispered the words barely loud enough for Kathryn to hear.

Kathryn watched Kalle sprint away from the lake before sighing and turning back towards the village.


	8. Chapter 8

The Captain never made it back to the village. Before she had gone even a few feet, her commbadge chirped.

"Captain, we're under attacked! Somehow, the Trelok entered orbit without us detecting them."

"Commander, can you drop shields long enough to beam us up?"

"I don't think so, Captain. I don't think we're going to last long up here. Can you get help from down there?"

"I'm going now, Commander. Janeway out."

She sprinted towards the Village, but stopped when she saw Avani running towards her.

"Where is Kalle?"

Janeway turned back the direction she had just come in, realizing that Kalle had gone away from the village.

"We have to get her. It's imperative the Trelok don't get her."

"Avani, my ship needs help."

Avani thought for a moment.

"You go find Kalle, I'll figure out what we can do to help." WIth that, she turned back to the village and disappeared into the woods.

Janeway sprinted in the direction Kalle had gone. When she reached the trees, she didn't slow down and branches slapped against her face, cutting into her skin. She called out Kalle's name over and over.

She finally burst out into another clearing and her heart sunk. Kalle was surrounded by over a dozen of the Trelok. She was fighting them, but their numbers were too large.

With a deep breath, Janeway continued to run towards them and attacked the man closest to her. With a surprised grunt, he turned towards her, but was too late and fell to the ground. She moved onto the next one and for a moment it seemed like, between the two of them, they might make it. But more soldiers burst into the opening and finally used sheer weight to jump on top of Janeway, holding her down. She could see the same thing happening to Kalle.

* * *

Janeway and Kalle were escorted to one of the Trelok shuttlecrafts, their hands cuffed behind their backs. When they reached the vessel, two of the Trelok went to the front cabin to initiate start up procedures. One other pushed Janeway into a small enclosure that overlooked the back cabin, unlocked her bindings, and erected a force field around her. The last guard guided Kalle to the middle of the room and left her there standing.

Both guards removed their vests and phasers and placed them on a table at the side of the room.

One of them walked up to Kalle and smiled at her. He brushed his hand across her face, but she didn't flinch.

Walking around to stand behind her, he crooned, "We've missed you on the ship, Kalle."

He reached into his belt and brought out a knife, which he flipped open. Janeway's heart began to race and she started to speak, but Kalle looked up at her and shook her head, almost imperceptibly.

Kalle stood stone still as the man reached over her shoulders with both arms and started caressing her breast with his hand. With the other hand, he traced the tip of the knife along her neck, drawing a line of blood. He continued down to the top of her tank top, which he slit down the middle along with the front of her bra. Two more quick strokes severed the sleeves and the shirt slid to the floor.

He pulled the bra away from her body and whispered in her ear, "This is how it should be."

He slipped the knife back into his pocket and returned his hands to her breasts where his touch became rougher. Breathing heavily, his hands roamed their way down her flat, muscular stomach and to the top of her pants, where he undid the button and pulled down the zipper. He slipped his hand down the front and slid his fingers inside of her.

Janeway felt helpless as she watched it happen. She couldn't stop herself from making a noise when the man dragged Kalle's pants down further and pushed her onto her knees.

Kalle looked up when she heard Janeway and, eyes full of regret, said, "Captain, I'm sorry. Please, I'm so sorry." Even as the guard made his way back around to the front of Kalle and unzipped his own pants, she continued to say the words over and over again.

Her voice cut off when the guard grabbed her by the back of the head and forced her mouth onto him. She gagged for a second and tried to pull back, but the man held her firmly, pushing her down further. For what seemed like an eternity to Janeway, he rhythmically thrust his hips back and forth into Kalle's face until he finally groaned, shuddered, and let go of Kalle's head.

Kalle sputtered as she gasped to get more air into her lungs.

The entire time, the other guard had been enjoying the view from a chair by the table they had placed their jackets on.

Now, he walked over and, as the first man backed off, he undid Kalle's hand cuffs and pushed on the back of her shoulders until she put her hands on the ground in front of her. He knelt behind her, grabbed her hips and raised them up before ramming himself into her.

The force of him caused Kalle to whimper and Janeway banged her hands against the force field ineffectually, causing it to crackle. Kalle again looked up at her and whispered the words, "I'm sorry" repeatedly as the guard clawed at her hair and back.

When he was finished she was curled up on the ground at his feet, shivering and bruised.

Content and sated, they recuffed one of Kalle's hands, dragged her over to a wall, and attached the other side of the cuffs to a hook. They sneered at Janeway before returning to the main cabin.

Kalle lifted herself into a sitting position, pulled her knees up to her chest, and hugged them with her free arm.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Captain. You shouldn't be here." Although she had looked Janeway in the eye before, she was looking towards the wall now.

"Kalle, this isn't your fault. None of this is your fault." Janeway wanted to say this to her as many times as Kalle had said "I'm sorry" to the Captain. But Kalle had lowered her head to rest it on her knees and didn't acknowledge Janeway's words.

* * *

The shuttle maneuvered into the Trelok warship and one of the guards came back into the cabin. He unlocked Kalle from the wall and threw some clothes at her. She gingerly put them on, still not looking at Janeway.

As soon as they docked, the four guards escorted the two women through the ship. The ship was exactly what Janeway would have envisioned, if the Trelok were how they portrayed themselves when Voyager had first encountered them. It was bright and airy, with colorful walls and a blend of organic and technological.

Eventually, they were pushed through a door and into what Janeway guessed was the Trelok version of a ready room. Her intuition was validated when she heard Tal Mayvik's voice and she turned to find him sitting in a high backed chair, behind a large wooden desk.

"Captain Janeway, welcome to my ship!" He had a bright smile that was laced with gloating.

Upon his words, Kalle hung back and Janeway was guided forward until she reached the desk. There were no chairs on her side of the desk.

"It looks like, once again, your ship wasn't up to the challenge. This time, we won't make the mistake of leaving your crew on the ship."

He looked behind her and sighted on Kalle.

"Ah, and look who's back." The Tal stood up and came around the desk. He paused next to Janeway and beckoned to Kalle, who walked up to him and immediately fell to her knees at his feet. Janeway hated that she couldn't prevent this from happening. She saw that Kalle was shaking from fear. The Captain hadn't seen her do that since she had first come to Voyager.

"It's amazing how quickly you changed allegiances, Kalle. I thought I had taught you better than that. Tell me, who do you belong to?"

In a small voice she answered, "I belong to you, master."

"Stand up."

She rose, with a gracefulness that suggested years of practice.

Immediately, he backhanded her with a force that seemed to shake the entire room. It lifted Kalle off her feet and Janeway thought she heard a "pop" as the woman slammed into the wall.

She rushed over to the downed woman, who was holding her shoulder, "Kalle, are you okay?"

"Leave her," Mayvik ordered.

"She needs medical attention! I will not stand here and let you hurt her."

"Captain, I think you are failing to understand that you are no longer in charge. Leave her or the consequences will be worse than a dislocated shoulder."

Janeway stood up and walked up to Mayvik, "What is your purpose here? What do you want?"

"I want you. I want you to submit to me. It's that simple."

Janeway sputtered, "You've done all this, just so you could have me? Forgive me if I find that difficult to believe."

"Believe it, Captain. From this day forward, you are mine. You will do as I say, when I say it."

"I will never submit to you." Janeway's eyes were defiant and challenging.

Mayvik met the challenge, "We'll see about that."

He motioned to the two guards and said, "Take them to my quarters and get them settled."

* * *

Mayvik's quarters were spacious and elegant. He had multiple rooms, all surrounding a lounge area that the entrance opened into. The guards walked Janeway and Kalle into the main room and through a set of doors on the other side. It was a sleeping area with a large bed against the middle of the main wall and a couch with a table and two armchairs to the side. The wall across from the bed had a mirror that took up the entire space. There was a bar and sink in one corner and a large closet in the other with a door next to do that.

When Mayvik had ordered them here, Kalle had gotten up without a sound, still holding her shoulder. She was quiet as the guards escorted them to this room and she didn't say a word, even after they walked out.

The Captain went over to her and looked her in the eye, "Let me look at your shoulder."

Kalle shook her head and said, "It's okay, Captain. I can fix it."

She went over to a section of bare wall, carefully wrapped her dislocated arm around her body, and without a moment's hesitation, jammed her shoulder against the wall. Janeway heard another "pop" and Kalle's knees buckled a bit before she straightened back up.

She turned back to the Captain and said, "Captain, I'm sorry. I don't know what to do. I can't let him hurt you, but I have to obey him."

It was all Janeway could do to stop herself from walking over to the woman and gathering her protectively in her arms.

"Kalle, we're going to figure this out. Somehow, we're both going to get off this ship. Do trust me?"

There wasn't a response right away and then Kalle responded, "Yes, I trust you, Captain."

Kalle walked over to a chest of drawers by the closet and rummaged through them. She finally picked out two outfits and said, "I need to clean myself up. He'll be back in a few hours."

She nodded at the couch and continued, "If you'd like to change, I'll leave these clothes for you. Otherwise, you should probably get some rest. We may not get much time to sleep later."

She dropped the clothes on the couch and walked through the doors by the closet that seemed to lead into a bathroom. Janeway walked over to the couch, picked up the clothes and then looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was disheveled from running through the woods, her uniform torn and dirty, and her face had scratches and mud on it.

The adrenaline from the situation had finally worn off and the Captain found herself feeling exhausted. She quickly changed into the clothes, washed her face at the sink and attempted to reorganize her hair. She sat down on the couch and tried to organize her thoughts, but quickly found herself drifting off.

She didn't know how long she had slept, but when she awoke, the lights on the room were dim and she had to wait a moment for her eyes to adjust. She looked around and, at first, thought she was alone. At second glance, she saw Kalle asleep on the floor, curled up in the corner where the bed met the wall. Janeway could tell that she had showered and also changed into clean clothes.

Janeway got up, stretched, and went to use the bathroom. When she came back out, the lights were on and Kalle was up and standing over at the bar. She was making a drink and it wasn't a few seconds after she finished that Janeway heard noise in the main cabin outside the room.

Kalle walked towards the door and lowered herself onto her knees, drink still in hand.

A few moments later, Mayvik entered. He looked at Kalle and then, smiling, turned to Janeway. "Soon, it will be you serving my drink."

He took the glass from Kalle and beckoned her to stand. He took a seat on the couch and indicated that Janeway should sit. She chose the armchair closest to him and Kalle stood at the end of the couch, next to Mayvik.

"Captain, it would be much easier on everyone if you accepted your new position in life. Your ship is no longer yours and there is no one to help you. Save yourself the pain and suffering."

Janeway leaned forward and looked Mayvic square in the eye, "Tal Mayvik, I'll say it again, I will never accept what you're proposing. It would save us all a lot of trouble if you let me go now."

Mayvik relaxed back in the couch, took a sip of his drink, and laughed. "I had a feeling you would say that, Captain. I'm going to enjoy this."

He turned to Kalle and said, "Take your clothes off."

Without looking at either Mayvik or Janeway, Kalle started stripping her clothes off. Her shirt and pants came first, to expose skin that was still laced with scars, but now also had bruises from the experience in the shuttle. She then unclipped her bra and let it fall to the floor before stepping out of her underwear.

Mayvik put his glass on the table, stood up, and turned to the now naked woman. He slid his fingers around her collarbone, and grasped her neck in his hand. Pulling her body to him, he kissed her mouth forcibly and when he was finished said, "Oh, I missed this body."

He turned around to face Janeway and said, "Now, Captain, take your clothes off."

Janeway looked sharply at him, "You think I am going to take my clothes off for you? Never."

Janeway knew the game had begun. She also knew that Mayvik was a violent man and that even if she won, physically she would not come out unscathed. She had been in plenty of situations before where her physical safety had been compromised. Her time with the Cardassians had shown her that she was capable of enduring a certain level of torture. She hoped she would be strong enough for this.

But, to Janeway's astonishment, Mayvik didn't advance on her but instead turned back around to hit Kalle before grabbing her by the shoulders and throwing her to the ground.

"There are consequences for everything, Captain." He grabbed the shoulder Kalle had only recently put back in place, and wrenched it behind her back, pulling until he heard another pop. Kalle moaned but didn't otherwise react.

"Every time you disobey, Captain, Kalle will suffer."

Over the next hour, the Captain was astonished by the stamina that Mayvik had. She watched, in horror, while he moved Kalle around the room, hitting and whipping her with whatever objects he could find, and raping her with a voracity that she wouldn't have believed was possible.

Every time she had convinced herself that neither Kalle nor she could take anymore and she must intervene, Kalle would look up at her and say, "No, Captain." It was what Janeway saw in Kalle's eyes that stopped her, for she realized that if she gave in, Kalle would also lose.

And every time Kalle would speak to the Captain, Mayvik would renew his assault with vigor, punishing both of them for their resistance.

When it was finally over, Kalle was lying on the bed and Janeway couldn't tell if she was conscious or not. Mayvik rolled off the bed, his muscles rippling in the artifical light.

While Mayvik dressed, he spoke to Janeway. "It's only a matter of time, Captain. In the meantime, Kalle will help settle you in and show you the ropes. I've set you up with quarters attached to ours. You'll find everything you need there, including food. You must be hungry."

When he left, Janeway rushed over to the bed and gently untied Kalle's wrists and ankles, which were raw from the rope. She went into the bathroom and got a wet towel which she used to clean off Kalle's bloody face and body. Other than her shoulder, it didn't seem that anything was seriously hurt. Mayvik certainly knew how to inflict pain without causing lasting damage.

Janeway didn't think Kalle was aware that anything was going on around her until she finished and Kalle, with her eyes still closed, said in a rusty voice, "Captain, please don't give in. I am used to this. I don't think I could handle it if I had to watch it happen to you, though."

Janeway put her hand to Kalle's head and brushed her hair away from her face. She responded, "Shh, it's going to be okay. We'll figure it out."

She couldn't say anything more, though, because at that moment, two guards came in and pulled Janeway away from Kalle. They grabbed her arms and she fought their tight grips for a moment before saying, "You can let go, I'll come with you."

She took one last look at Kalle and then turned to follow the men. They led her out through the main cabin, where there was no sign of Mayvik, and into the corridor. Just a few meters down, there was another door that opened to them into a small room. It was about a third of the size of Janeway's quarters on Voyager and was minimally furnished with a bed, drawers, and a small table with two chairs. There was a tiny bathroom off to the side.

The guards left her in the room and the doors shut behind them. She tested them to see if they would reopen, but had no luck, even after playing with the console on the wall. She turned back to the room and saw that food had been left on the table. Her stomach was still roiling from watching Mayvik, but she knew she should eat something to keep her strength up. She had to force the bland meal down her throat.

When she finished, she sat down on the bed to assess the situation. She had noticed that security on the ship was much tighter than on Voyager. There were people everywhere and she hadn't seen one place where she would be able to gain access to the systems. Except for when she was contained in a room, she was constantly guarded.

Her only option was to go along with Mayvik's plan and hope that an opportunity would present itself. She knew Voyager wouldn't give up on her and she planned on being ready for whatever her crew had worked out. In the meantime, she hoped both she and Kalle could endure whatever Mayvik had in store for them.

Even though Janeway had napped earlier in the evening, the emotional events in Mayvik's quarters had once again left her sapped of energy. She had fallen into the bed and slept fitfully until a buzz at her door woke her. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, still feeling exhausted.

She said, "Enter" although she wasn't sure she had any control over the functioning of the door.

The doors did slide open, however, and Kalle appeared on the other side. She poked her head through and said, "Captain?"

"Yes, Kalle, come in." She walked quickly over to the woman and scanned her from head to toe, checking on her health. Her skin was pale and bruised, her eyes dark and swollen. She had on a short sleeved shirt that showed all the bruises and cuts on her arms. She had wrapped the rubs on her wrists with some kind of medical tape and her shoulder was back in place.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, Captain, I'm fine. We need to get you ready though."

The Captain looked over at the chronometer on the wall. It was just after 4 in the morning.

"Ready for what? Why are you up so early?"

"Tal has ordered that you stay with me during the day."

"I see. And you start this early?"

"Yes, ma'am. This is the only time I have to exercise."

Janeway frowned, "Kalle, you shouldn't be exercising after what you went through last night."

Kalle looked down and said, "It's not a choice, Captain."

She walked over to the dresser and pulled out what looked to be exercise clothes. She handed them to Janeway and the Captain took them and went into the bathroom. She took a few moments to wash up and change before coming back out.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind for the Captain. The ship didn't have anything like a holodeck, but they did have a work out facility, where the two women went for a run. Kalle also showed Janeway how she sparred with a computer generated partner, which Kalle set on an easy setting for both of them.

After, they both took showers and changed into new clothes. Kalle was wearing an outfit similar to what Janeway had seen her in the first time on Voyager, but without the jacket. She gave Janeway something similar, but thankfully not as tight.

Janeway thought that she worked hard and long hours on Voyager, but as the days wore on, she realized it was nothing compared to Kalle's schedule. It seemed as if she managed every detail of Mayvik's life, in addition to having other duties as well.

She laid out his clothes, cleaned his quarters, and made his breakfast, all before he had awoken. She stood by him while he ate, anticipating anything he might need before he asked. While Mayvik made his rounds on the ship, she took notes and reminded him about things that needed to be done. Most often, he ate lunch and dinner with other officers. She made these meals as well and served them food and drinks while they chatted.

She was incredibly in tune with his moods and adjusted her behavior accordingly. Even so, she was punished for any error, real or perceived. If a dish was too salty, she was hit. If she was too slow to retrieve a piece of requested information, Janeway would see her pushed to the ground and kicked. She never complained or made a noise and when the punishment was finished, she would continue working as if nothing had happened.

For the first few days, Janeway only observed. Eventually, Kalle gave the Captain things to do where she wouldn't have to interact directly with the Tal. Even so, the Captain would make mistakes and Kalle was punished even more harshly for these. The Captain tried to catch on as quickly as she could, until she realized Mayvik would come up with reasons to punish Kalle no matter how well she worked.

It was after dinnertime that Janeway dreaded the most. Almost every night, Mayvik dined in his quarters with his closest advisers. He would often get quite drunk and, afterwards, would take Kalle into the bedroom. Janeway was always forced to watch. When they were lucky, Mayvik would be too drunk and tired to do much more than sate his sexual energy quickly. It was the other times that Janeway had nightmares about. Never as bad as the first night, but Mayvik was extremely creative and sadistic.

The sexual control he held over Kalle was thorough and complete. Throughout the day, he would force her to perform sexual acts on himself and others. Janeway could tell that Kalle was used to it, but as time went on, she began to see more and more humiliation reflect in Kalle's eyes when she looked at the Captain. Before long, Kalle wouldn't look at the Captain at all.

Their days wouldn't end until late into the night, when Janeway would be sent back to her quarters and Kalle would sleep on the floor by Mayvik's bed.

Physically, Janeway had never been in better shape. The exercise routines that Kalle put them through in the mornings built up so that they were more strenuous than any program the Captain had done aboard Voyager. Mayvik had Janeway eat every meal with him, Kalle serving them both. Kalle was given very little food, mostly the leftovers from dinner and, at first, the Captain had refused to eat anything more than what Kalle was given. Mayvik put an end to this fairly quickly by beating Kalle ruthlessly in front of Janeway and his officers. Janeway realized she had to pick her battles.

Mentally, however, Janeway was a disaster. The lack of sleep was taking its toll. They were given, at most 4-5 hours a night. Although Janeway fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was always woken by violent dreams about Kalle, soaked with sweat and chest heaving.

Janeway didn't know how much longer she could hold out. She often lost sight of what her actions, or inaction, meant and had to continually remind herself of the game that was being played. Janeway could see that Kalle was becoming thinner and weaker. In fact, she couldn't see how the woman had the energy to make it through the days. She didn't know if winning the game was worth the sacrifice that Kalle was making.

At the same time, Janeway was incredibly impressed by Kalle's ability to carry on through such adversity. Janeway was used to leading others through tough times. The reason that her crew had such confidence in her wasn't because she acted as if she knew what she was doing, it was because she did know what she was doing. Oh, there were times when Janeway questioned her decisions or felt overwhelmed by her responsibility. But the truth was, Janeway thrived under the conditions Voyager put her in. Yet, she knew that she would never hold up like Kalle did if she were in her position.

Janeway also worried about her ship and crew. She knew that the Trelok had tractored the ship and removed the crew to containment cells on Mayvik's ship. But she didn't know how they were being treated. She didn't even know if they were all alive.


	9. Chapter 9

It was finally at dinner one night that Janeway realized she had to come up with a new game plan. She was sitting with Mayvik and four others, everyone having finished their meals and now relaxing with drinks. Kalle was cleaning up the dishes and Janeway already had a pit in her stomach thinking about having to endure another night of watching Kalle be raped.

When everyone had finished their drinks, Janeway expected the rest of the men to head back to their own quarters. Instead, nobody got up and the pit in Janeway's stomach got bigger.

They were all sitting on couches that formed a circle in the middle of the room and Mayvik called Kalle over. When she came, she looked warily at the men, before taking a spot on her knees in front of the Tal.

The men stood up and moved Janeway to a chair, where they tied her arms. Once she was immobilized, they turned their attention to Kalle. She was stripped and her hands were tied in front of her. She was positioned so her stomach lay over the coffee table and her hands were attached to one side while one man kicked her legs open and tied each thigh to a table leg on the other side.

Then, the men began to take turns on Kalle, while Mayvik left the room. When he returned, he was carrying a whip. It was about three feet long and flexible, with a number of thin, knotted and spiked "tails" at the end.

When Kalle saw Mayvik enter with the whip, Janeway saw a level fear in her eyes that had never been there before. Kalle seemed wild and out of control as she began to struggle against her bindings and whimper, "Please, no, master. Please. I'll do anything."

Mayvik responded to her by saying, "Kalle, the only thing that will stop this is the Captain's acceptance of her place on this ship."

This comment stopped the begging, but she continued to fight against the restraints.

He raised his arm and the whip cracked as it sliced through the air and fell onto Kalle's back. She screamed and sharp lines of blood appeared where the whip had sliced her. After everything that Kalle had endured without hardly a sound, Janeway was sure this whip caused more pain than she could imagine.

Again, he brought the thin tendrils of leather down onto her back and again Kalle screamed. Janeway pulled at the ropes attaching her to the chair, trying to free herself, but only succeeded in making the bindings pull tighter, cutting into her wrists. She yelled at Mayvik to stop, but he didn't pay any attention to her as he continued his assault on Kalle.

It felt like ages to Janeway, but Mayvik didn't stop until Kalle was too hoarse to scream and her back was a mangled mess of skin and blood. When the men finally undid the bindings holding her to the table, she was unconscious.

Janeway hoped that they would leave the two of them and Janeway could care for her, but she was immediately escorted by Mayvik to her own quarters, where he stepped in after her and said, "Think about it Captain, who knows how much more Kalle can take of this."

* * *

Janeway did think about it. She decided she couldn't subject Kalle to this anymore. For the past few weeks, Janeway had convinced herself she was doing the right thing. She had reinforced her decision by believing that Kalle wanted it this way also. But she had forgotten that she was a Federation Captain. She was supposed to protect those under her command, not the other way around. Janeway realized she had made a mistake.

Once she had come to this conclusion, she was ready to embrace her new plan. Unfortunately, nobody came to her room the next day. She got up early, hoping that Kalle would come to her door like she always did, but Janeway waited and nothing happened. No food arrived either and by late in the day, she was concerned. She went to bed and dreamt of Kalle's screams.

She waited throughout the next day and finally, around dinnertime, her door beeped. A moment later, Mayvik entered her room.

Janeway didn't stand. She looked up at the man in the doorway before turning her head and staring away from him.

Mayvik stared at her for a moment longer, smiled, and inclined his head at her. Janeway stood up and, as he turned on his heel and strode out of the room, she followed.

Once in Mayvik's quarters, Janeway finally spoke.

"I will do anything you say under one condition."

"Captain, having conditions defeats the purpose."

"You can take it or leave it, but I will not submit without this condition being met. I want you to promise that Kalle never sees what happens between you and me in these rooms. "

Mayvik laughed and said, "Captain, the protector until the end. Fine."

He escorted her into the bedroom where he sat on the bed, looked at her, and said, "Take off your clothes."

Janeway hesitated for a moment before slowly peeling off her shirt and pants. When she finished with her undergarments, she stood in the middle of the room, exposed.

Mayvik stood up and walked over to her, eyes on her body as he circled around her. Finally, he placed his hand on the back of her neck and traced the outline of her shoulder blade around to the front, where he stopped to caress her chest bone.

"What a beautiful body you have, Kathryn." Janeway didn't miss the significance that this was the first time he had used her first name.

He walked over to the bar and picked up a piece of rope that was lying on the counter. He came back to her and gently tied her hands together. Janeway felt her breath catch and she willed herself to push away the fear by focusing on her breathing.

Mayvik then walked over to a console in the wall, pressed some buttons, and Janeway heard something above her. She looked up to see a metal hook, lowering from the ceiling. It dropped almost to eye level before stopping and Mayvik came back over to Janeway and placed the rope binding Janeway's hands onto the hook.

With a few more clicks on the console, the hook raised back up until Janeway's arms were stretched above her and she could barely touch her toes to the ground. In the mirror, Janeway could see her naked body hanging.

Mayvik went back over to the bar and picked something else up, which Janeway couldn't see until he came to stand in front of her. It was a whip, not the kind he had used on Kalle two days ago, but one that was shorter and thicker.

"Kathryn, it's time you were punished for the way you've acted over the past few weeks. Do you agree?"

Janeway's eyes flashed in defiance and she didn't answer.

Mayvik took the tip of the whip and brushed it against Janeway's stomach and up between her breasts. He got closer to the Captain and whispered in her ear, "Do I need to remind you about our agreement?"

Janeway shook her head and Mayvik asked again, "Do you deserve to be punished?"

"Yes." Janeway spit the word out.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, I deserve to be punished."

"Yes, you deserve to be punished, what?"

Janeway bristled, but finally responded, "Yes, I deserve to be punished, Tal."

"Good girl." He walked to stand behind Janeway and she tensed, waiting for the whip to land on her back. Instead, she heard his voice call out, "Kalle, why don't you come join us?"

Janeway twisted in her bindings to see, out of the corner of her eye, Kalle emerging from the bathroom door. She growled and said to Mayvik, "I should have known not to trust you."

She tried to turn towards Kalle, but her shoulders were starting to burn from holding her weight and pain seared through her when she tried to move. Instead, she looked at Kalle through the mirror. The woman looked terrible. She looked like she had lost a lot of weight over the past two days, weight that she didn't have to lose. She moved stiffly and Janeway said, "Kalle, are you okay?"

When she didn't acknowledge her, Janeway continued, "You shouldn't be seeing this." Kalle went straight to Mayvik.

Mayvik handed Kalle the whip and said, "Hit her."

Kalle looked at Mayvik and then at Janeway before saying, "Please, master, I can't."

Mayvik's hand shot out and struck Kalle across the face. "Yes, you can. If you don't want anything worse to happen to your Captain."

Kalle wrapped her arms around her body and looked at Janeway in the mirror. Janeway said to her, "Kalle, listen to him."

Kalle shook her head and said, "Captain, please don't make me do this."

Janeway steeled herself and said, "Kalle, hit me. That's an order."

Kalle looked at her for a long minute before raising her arm and bringing the whip down on Janeway's back. Janeway took a quick intake of air and hissed at the sting on her back.

"Again," Mayvik ordered Kalle.

Another lash and another pause afterwards. Kalle hadn't moved her eyes from Janeway's.

"Again. Don't stop until I tell you."

The next few strikes were erratic, Kalle bringing them down and then pausing to search Janeway's face.

And then, all of a sudden, the lashes came quickly and consecutively, with no pauses. They rained down on Janeway's back, each one harder than the next. Janeway didn't have time to breath in between each stroke and now that her shoulders had become numb, the searing pain had transferred to her back. She struggled not to scream.

Instead, she tried to focused on Kalle, but the change in the woman caught her off guard. The woman was sobbing as she hit the Captain, tears streaming down her face. Janeway had never seen her cry before. Not when Janeway had threatened her in the cell on Voyager, or when she had endured the taunts of the Voyager crew, or even when she was whipped into unconsciousness two nights before.

Finally, Mayvik gestured at Kalle, and the woman fell to the ground, shoulders heaving with deep sobs. Mayvik walked over to Janeway, reached up and released Janeway from the ropes. The pain in Janeway's shoulders redoubled as her arms fell to her sides and readjusted to their normal position.

Janeway stumbled her way over to Kalle, whose cries were becoming slower. Kathryn pulled her into her arms and held her tightly until the sobbing stopped. Eventually, Kalle pushed herself away and wiped her eyes. She got up and walked over to the sink, where she took a towel and wet it. What Janeway saw when Kalle turned around and walked back chilled her. Kalle's eyes were empty. There was no fear, no sadness, no hurt. Nothing.

With a satisfied smile, Mayvik walked out of the room. Kalle waited for the door to close and then brought the wet towel back to the Captain. She carefully began cleaning the wounds on Janeway's back.

"Kalle, I'm sorry. I know this isn't what you wanted, but you couldn't have lasted much longer under these conditions."

Kalle didn't respond, but instead got up, walked back to the sink, picked up a jar and returned to where Janeway was sitting. She gently applied a salve to the cuts, before cleaning up the materials on the floor. When she was finished, she turned to the door and walked out without a word.


	10. Chapter 10

The ship rocked beneath Janeway as she sat in her room. She had slept fitfully, her shirt rubbing against her sore back and making it hard to get comfortable. It was early in the morning when the ship had started shaking. To Janeway, it felt as if they were under attack.

After a half hour, everything quieted down and Janeway's door opened. Mayvik entered, eyes blazing with rage. He grabbed Janeway by the hair and dragged her out into the corridor. She tried to fight him, but his grip was too tight and he was much stronger than she was.

They wound their way through the ship, until they had reached the rooms that held the brig. Mayvik opened a door and led Janeway through, before shoving her through another door that was so low she had to duck. With a click, the door closed and was plunged into darkness.

Janeway felt her way around, trying to figure out where she was. When she realized, her heart sunk. She hated small spaces. And the room was tiny. It was too short for her to stretch her entire body out and the ceiling was too low for her to stand up straight. There were only walls and the door she had come through.

Ever since her time with the Cardassians, she had a fear of being enclosed like this. She let herself slide down the wall into a sitting position and she focused on trying to figure out what was going on.

As she sat in the darkness, her mind ran wild with the possibilities. Was Kalle okay? Why would Mayvik had put her here so soon after she had given in? What had happened to her crew? Maybe it was just temporary.

But as the hours dragged by, Janeway became more and more agitated. She banged on the door, with no affect. Finally, after exhausting herself, she fell asleep curled up on the floor.

Since Janeway didn't have a watch, she didn't know how long she had been in the room, but the time felt interminable. She was brought water and small meals, but nobody would speak with her. She was given a can to relieve herself in and that was emptied every so often.

With no contact with any other living beings, other than the food being shoved in and the can being taken out, Janeway slowly began to think she was going crazy. She started to hear screaming that sounded like Kalle, right outside her door. But when she pressed her ear against the wall, she found she couldn't hear anything.

* * *

It had been days, maybe a week or longer and she was dozing on and off, as she spent most of her time doing, when the door opened and light streamed in. She covered her face with her arms as her eyes were blinded by the unaccustomed brightness.

She heard footsteps and felt someone grab her by the collar of her shirt, dragging her out into the main room. She struggled to stand up, but her legs were weak from disuse and they gave out on her immediately. Above her, she heard a chuckle.

"Captain Janeway, please, take your time."

A few moments later, when her eyes finally adjusted, she looked up at the voice.

It wasn't Mayvik, but a man who was wearing an outfit similar to the one Mayvik wore, but with more decorations. He looked older than Mayvik, but was equally as handsome and his face didn't have the same cold hardness to it.

"Let me introduce myself, Captain. My name is Commander Anka."

Janeway didn't respond but looked around, surprised at this newcomer and expecting to find Mayvik lurking somewhere in the room.

"Tal Mayvik is no longer with us, Captain. He has been...relieved of duty."

At that, Janeway let her body relax and she felt a moment of relief.

"And my crew?"

"They are safe, here on the ship. I have taken over command and we are almost to Trelok."

Janeway hesitated a moment, not sure if she was ready for the answer.

"And Kalle?"

Anka looked away, "I'm sorry, Captain. Kalle is dead."

While Janeway stared in disbelief, Anka turned to one of the men standing near him, "Please see to it that the Captain is able to wash up and get her some clean clothes and a meal." He strode out the door and the men left behind helped Janeway onto her unsteady feet.

Feeling numb, Janeway let herself be led to her former quarters, where she took a shower and redressed herself. Someone had left a meal on the table, but she ignored it and a few minutes later, the door opened and Anka came striding into the room.

He took a look at the plate of cold food and said, "Not hungry, Captain?"

Janeway ignored the question, "I would like to see my crew."

"There will be time for that, Captain." He walked around her and looked out the window.

"Captain, Mayvik and I didn't always see eye to eye. His use of violence was often...excessive. I prefer less extreme methods. I think the two of us could work together to come to a mutual arrangement. You want your crew to be treated fairly, I want this business with Brahid to be over."

"What do you want from me?"

"All I want, Captain, for now, is an understanding that things will be easier if we're both on the same page." He paused and then continued, "You must be exhausted from everything that's happened today. We'll be arriving at the planet tomorrow. Get some rest."

With that, he exited the room, leaving Janeway to puzzle over his cryptic statements. She sat down on the bed, mentally exhausted from the events of the past few weeks. She thought about Kalle, about the last time she saw her and the vacantness that was in the woman's eyes. The guilt threatened to overtake her but she pushed those feelings away. She still had her crew to think about. She had spent too much time focusing on Kalle and she had lost both her ship and crew because of it.

Before drifting into a fitful sleep, she thought only that she would do anything in her power to get her people back on Voyager.

* * *

The next day, when the ship had docked in orbit, Janeway was escorted to a shuttlecraft which took her to the planet surface. She still hadn't even gotten a glimpse of her crew since they had been at Brahid. Once on the ground, a transport vehicle took her to an apartment style house that was bordered by large, brick walls.

Inside, the house was extravagantly furnished and meticulously neat, as if nobody actually lived there. Before leaving her, one of the guards knelt down in front of her and, picking up her pant leg, snapped a large metal bracelet around her ankle. He then undid the restraints on her hands and left the room.

Janeway explored the room, trying to see if there was a way out. The door they had walked through was locked and the only other exit was at the other end of the room, facing the back of the house. The wall was covered with drapes and when Janeway pulled them back, she discovered an enclosed porch. She stepped out on it, seeing that although she was only on the second floor of the home, she was looking out over an area that was on the inside of the brick walls and was much lower than the street level on the outside.

It was a large dirt yard, surrounded by brick buildings. Guards were stationed on the wall, all holding weapons. In the middle of the yard, the crew of Voyager stood, huddled in a tight group.

To Janeway's eyes, they looked haggard. Thinner than when she had last seen them, dirty, and tense. She started to count them, but was interrupted by a voice.

"Captain, I see you've found your crew."

She turned quickly, to see Commander Anka standing behind her. She hadn't heard him come in.

"Let me talk with them."

"Not now, Captain. We have other business first. Please, come sit with me."

She followed him reluctantly, first turning back to take another look at her crew. In the other room, he directed her to sit on one of the couches and he sat across from her.

"What do you want from me? Why am I not down there with them?"

"Captain, let me explain the situation to you, so you have a clearer understanding. We have been at war with the Brahids for generations. As I'm sure they've led you to believe that we have been the aggressors and they the victims. But that is not how it started. They attacked our planet and wiped out hundreds of thousands of our people, to steal our technology. But, it's been decades now and we believe it's time to end the war."

Janeway shook her head, "So you expect me to believe that you're the victims here? And even if I did, what do you want with me?"

"My country is still blinded by their hatred. But I believe we need peace. We need to show that we can work together with humans. You are the perfect diplomat, well spoken and attractive. I want you to work with me to show a unified front."

Janeway frowned, "Commander, I am not even from Brahid. Under my law, I am not allowed to interfere in your matters."

He shrugged, "That doesn't make a difference. My people see you as the same."

"Then what was the whole thing with Mayvik? Why did you let him take me? And treat Kalle the way he did?"

"Like I said, Captain, Mayvik was short sighted. He didn't belong in command."

"And if I say no?"

"I know you care deeply for your ship and crew, Captain. They are currently prisoners of war, sentenced to hard labor. Life in our camps is not easy. But, if you were to do this, things could change for them."

Janeway stood up and walked back over to the porch. She stood looking at her crew, assessing the situation.

"What, specifically, would you need me to do?"

"Be by my side, Captain. Attend functions. Show my people that we are on the same side. And, seeing as you've spent time on Brahid, help us with information that would help lead us to peace with them."

Janeway looked sharply at him, "You want intelligence information on their defenses." It was a statement, not a question.

Anka lowered is voice, "We can't get to peace when we're on such uneven footing, Captain."

Janeway laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. "You almost had me fooled, Anka. But I'm not that stupid."

"No, Captain, I didn't think you were. But it was worth a try. I was trying to make it easier for you, to give you the choice. But I should have guessed you were too stubborn for that."

He turned to a guard standing by the door and gestured to him. The man left the room and Anka joined Janeway on the porch. Janeway got a pit in her stomach, but kept her face calm.

Down below them, the man that had just been in the room was walking out towards the Voyager crew. Janeway couldn't hear them, but she could tell he had spoken and one of the crewman was pushed forward by a guard.

As he was forced down on his knees, Janeway looked at Anka, "What are you doing?"

Before he could respond, the guard lifted his weapon and shot the crewman in the back of the head. The man slumped over and Janeway could see Chakotay fighting to get to him.

"I thought you said you didn't believe in violence as an answer!"

"I said I prefer to avoid violence. I didn't say that it doesn't have its place."

Looking back to below them, another crewman was being pushed forward. Janeway could see that it was Samantha Wildman. Nearby, Naomi was screaming for her mom and the entire crew was trying to surge against their captors.

Quietly, Janeway turned to Anka, "Enough. I'll do whatever you want."


	11. Chapter 11

The Captain settled into a routine with Anka fairly quickly. The bracelet they had put on her leg had an alarm on it that allowed her to roam anywhere within the confines of the city, but would signal an alert if she went any farther. It had a fail safe that would terminate it's wearer if it was taken off. Anka also had a control for it himself that he wore around his wrist.

He wanted her to put in as much face time as possible and he paraded her everywhere he went. She kept a smile plastered on her face at all times and made polite small talk with those who engaged her.

At his home, he would interrogate her about the Brahid's technology. What he didn't know was that she didn't have a lot of information herself, but she wasn't going to let him know that. He was frustrated by her lack of cooperation in this matter and would continue to threaten the crew when she wasn't forthcoming. The information was the only bargaining chip she had and she held it close to her chest, giving out small bits here and there, holding anything back that was useful.

During these sessions, she found that he really wasn't opposed to violence at all. The difference between him and Mayvik was that he didn't seem to find pleasure in her pain. There were times that he would treat her gently and with respect, as if he truly did care about her.

Every morning, she would watch her people marched out of the walls to do work and then watch them being marched back in at sunset. Every day, she saw them grow weaker and thinner. They obviously weren't getting much food and the hours they worked were long and hard.

It made her sick that she was up here, with plenty of food and nothing to do, while they suffered down below her. It got to the point where she couldn't even stand the sight of the food given to her and she threw it up more often than not. Instead, she started stashing it in her room and when she finally figured out a way into the prison, she would bring it to Chakotay to distribute to the rest of the crew.

The security in the prison was surprisingly lax, probably because the security outside the prison was bordering on paranoid. This prison held people who were only used for hard labor and had no other value. The Trelok didn't concern themselves over prisoner behavior and if there were riots or murders or any other kind of illicit activity, it didn't bother them as long as it stayed within the walls.

It that sense, it worked well for the crew of Voyager. Because they had strength in numbers, they didn't have to worry about the other prisoners. And Janeway was able to visit them for brief periods of time before Anka realized she was missing. She would sneak through the basement of the apartment, just as the guard had done the first day she was here.

The times when she was caught sneaking into the prison, she was brought back to Anka and punished. Janeway thought that Mayvik was fairly adept at using both direct physical pain and psychological torture as punishment, but Anka was just as creative.

The first time it happened, Janeway had stood defiantly in front of him, eyes glaring with their typical Irish heat. Anka didn't say a thing to her, but when they sat down for dinner that night, he insisted she eat her food.

An hour later, her stomach was twisting in on itself and she could barely hold down water. She lay on the floor, stomach heaving while Anka stood over her. It took her two days to recover, and by the time she could drink enough water to keep her hydrated, she needed medical care. When the doctor came to see her, Anka sat by bed, stroking her hair.

The next day, he saw to it that each member of Voyager had a full meal. She felt such relief at seeing them full for once, she almost felt gratitude towards the man.

After that, every once in awhile, Anka would poison her food again to remind Janeway of the consequences. The only food she brought to the crew from then on were items stolen while she was out on her own.

Some of the things he made her do were so degrading that she was only thankful that the crew wasn't there to see it happen. One time, she was brought back to him while he was eating. He had thrown his plate across the room in anger and and then made her eat the food off the floor, while the guards watched.

Another time, they were out to dinner with some of Anka's friends and Janeway had excused herself to go to the bathroom. While she was washing her hands, one of the men came in behind her and grabbed her, pulling her to his chest. He groped her breasts and kissed her neck, his breathe foul with alchohol. When he turned her around and tried to push her to her knees, she punched him in the face. Anka walked in to see the man holding his broken nose.

He had been so embarrassed that he himself pushed her to her knees in front of the man and forced her to apologize. When he told her to kiss his feet, she rebelled and tried to get up. He cuffed her in the head and then leaned down to her and whispered, "think about your crew". Without a second thought, she pressed her mouth to the man's feet.

Each time he threatened the Voyager crew, a little more of her will to defy was crushed.

She also learned to dread Anka's mood shifts. Often, he would engage her in conversations that she found to be extremely mentally stimulating. He was an incredibly bright man, although with decidedly misguided ideals. Other times, he would storm into the house and scream at Kathryn, pushing her to the ground and beating her ruthlessly.

After those times, he would always apologize profusely and send for the doctor. And always, he would do something for the crew the following day. Give them more food, cut back their work hours for the day, or let Kathryn spend some time with them.

She began to provoke Anka on a regular basis on purpose, leaving the house more frequently and staying out longer than she was allowed. She would miss events he had schedule for them or be uncooperative while they were with other people. It got so she couldn't tell the difference between the pain of the beatings and the pleasure of getting something for her crew.

She also found herself seeking Anka's positive attention. She would stand and watch her crew eat a good meal and Anka would come up behind her and put his arms around her shoulders and for a few minutes everything would feel okay.

One day, after the two of them had watched the crew from the house, Anka turned her around and kissed her. Too startled to respond, she let him lead her to his bedroom. It was in there that she got her bearings back and started to fight him. He held her arms firmly behind her back, though, and held her immobile as he stripped off her clothes. When both of them were naked, he threw her on the bed and held her down with his body.

She had lost so much weight over the past few weeks and was weak from lack of food, that her struggles were ineffectual. She finally just closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

But, she soon realized that Anka had different plans. He spent his time, exploring her body slowly and sensually. Despite herself, Kathryn found her body responding. She struggled even more, trying to fight it as the clearly experienced Anka ran his hands over her breasts and trailed down her belly.

When he eventually entered her and slowly stroked in and out, his fingers playing on the outside of her, as her control left her and she came in time with Anke, she became overwhelmed with guilt and felt tears sliding down her cheeks.

When he was finished, he went into the bathroom to take a shower and she curled up on the bed, thoroughly beaten.

* * *

The weeks after followed the same pattern for Janeway. She continued to sneak food to the prison, continued to slowly give up information to Anka, and continued to sleep in his bed.

She knew she had become a shell of her former self, but couldn't find the energy to care. The shame she felt when she accepted the beatings or when she submissively obeyed Anka didn't matter. All she cared about was the health of her crew.

When she went to the prison, though, she couldn't look Chakotay in the eye and even though he had lost weight and was malnourished, he thought she looked much worse. She had dark circles under her baggy eyes and the skin on her body sagged over her bony frame. She was jumpy and Chakotay could see the fear in her eyes whenever anybody touched her.

In front of the crew, she did her best to act normal, to remember how she felt as Captain and to show them the strength and confidence that they were used to. Every time, Chakotay pulled her aside and asked her what was happening, but she would respond sharply, "It's fine, Chakotay. Just focus on making sure the crew is okay."


	12. Chapter 12

I've reached a point in this story where I haven't decided yet what to do. I'd be interested if anyone is intrigued enough for me to keep writing...I'd love to get some feedback! Thanks.

* * *

It had been three months since they had arrived on Trelok and Janeway sat watching the news communications on the screen in Anka's living room. The "peace effort" was going well. People had accepted that Janeway and Anka's alliance was a step forward and that, with her help, they would be able to overcome the Brahids. Janeway didn't know what her information had actually done or if the Trelok had even attempted to engage the Brahids.

Kathryn heard Anka enter at the front door and stood up as he walked in the room. She nervously looked at the floor, unsure what mood he was going to be in. As she saw his eyes flash, she quickly scrambled away from him, but wasn't fast enough to avoid the first blow. Once she was on the ground, he wrenched her arm behind her back.

"You've held out long enough about the Brahid defenses. I need to know now. How do they keep themselves shielded from us?"

Kathryn didn't respond and he pulled on her arm more sharply. She heard a tear at the same time she felt the pain. A scream escaped her lips and she crumpled over. He hit her until she only heard ringing in her ears and nothing else.

"Please, Anka. I don't know." The words came out in a whimper, but she was long past feeling shame for that weakness.

He growled in disgust, kicked her, and walked away towards his office. She heard him talking through a communicator, ordering troops to converge on the city center. When he was finished, he came back into the room and glared at her. Kathryn shuddered when he came closer, but he just looked at her and said, "Stay here. There are guards outside the doors."

With that, he stormed out the front door. Kathryn pulled herself up off the floor, holding her arm. It was then that she saw that the program on tv had been interrupted by the newscaster. When she looked closely at the screen, she saw images of small ships streaking across the city sky. The picture flashed and she was looking at soldiers sweeping through the city streets. But, they weren't Trelok soldiers. When she looked more closely, she saw that the figures were human, but not dressed in the typical Brahidian way. Instead of loose, leather outfits, they had on tight, protective uniforms.

They carried guns and around them buildings were collapsing as if there was an earthquake, although the ground under the soldiers feet was steady as they marched together. The announcer was urging citizens to stay inside, that the military was on its way and would take care of the problem.

In the second it took Janeway to assess the situation, she had pulled herself together and taken stock of what she needed to do. She snuck down to the basement, where the tunnel led into the prison. Anka had been so sure of her obedience, that he had only stationed one guard at the mouth of the tunnel. With the element of surprise, she easily dispatched the man and was able to run into the courtyard of the prison.

On the other side, she found Chakotay and the crew innocently going about their regular evening routine.

He looked up in alarm as he saw her coming and ran to greet her.

"What's going on, Captain? Are you okay?"

She ignored his second question and said, "I'm not sure what's happening, but I think the Brahid are here."

As she said this, two ships streaked above them and they heard an explosion as the wall surrounding the prison smashed into pieces.

People came flooding through the opening, straight towards Janeway and her crew. When Janeway saw Avani in the lead, she ran towards her.

"Avani, what's happening?"

"We have to get you out of here, Captain. We are temporarily in control of the city, but the Trelok have reinforcements on the way and we won't be able to hold them off."

She turned towards some of the soldiers behind her and directed them to secure the prison. As they left, she turned back to the Captain.

"We need to get your crew out of here. We have a transport ship landing about a mile outside of the city. Can your people make it?"

Janeway nodded, "They'll be fine."

"Fine, let's get going then."

"Avani, I can't leave." Janeway lifted up her pant leg and pointed at the metal bracelet around her ankle. "It will kill me if I leave the city or try to take it off. You'll need to take my crew for me."

Avani started to respond, but one of her soldiers came running back to her.

"Their reinforcements are here. We can't leave through the front. We don't have time to take out the wall in the back."

While Avani discussed options, Janeway had come up with her own.

"I can hold of Anka, at least for a moment. Go now."

"Captain, no, we're not going to leave you behind."

"You don't have a choice, Avani. Please, get my crew to safety." Janeway's eyes pleaded with Avani.

For the first time since they greeted each other, Avani took a long look at Janeway, taking in her haggard appearance and bruised face. Finally, she nodded sharply and said, "Good luck, Captain."

Janeway turned to Chakotay, who was already preparing his arguments against Janeway staying behind.

"No, Chakotay. Promise me you'll get the crew home."

"Captain, don't do this." Chakotay's voice was angry.

Janeway didn't say anything but took a last look at her crew, reached up and kissed Chakotay on the cheek, and turned and sprinted back to the house.

* * *

Before heading back upstairs to the apartment, she stopped at the body of one of the prison guards and took his weapons from him. She headed upstairs and looked out the front window, where Anka was organizing his troops to enter the prison.

She took a deep breathe and started to open the door to head out, but before she could she heard a noise behind her.

"Captain, what are you doing?"

Janeway froze in disbelief at the sound of the voice. Slowly, she turned around.

A few yards away from her, Kalle was standing in the middle of the room, wearing Brahidian clothing and looking like she had been through hell. Her hair had been pulled back but half of it was coming out of its binding and it hung down, sticking in the sweat on her face. Her clothes were torn and damp.

"Kalle? But, they told me you were dead."

"They lied."

Janeway studied the woman, taking in the sight of her. Even though she looked exhausted, she seemed composed. Her face showed no emotion and Janeway felt a sharp pang when it reminded her of the last time she had seen Kalle.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to stop you from committing suicide." She walked over to Janeway and peered out the window. Then she knelt down and looked at the bracelet. "We need to get the control from Anka and turn it off."

"Kalle, you should go back with the others. You're not safe here."

"Captain, you don't get to tell me what to do anymore."

Janeway recoiled at the words as if she had been hit.

"Kalle, I...I'm sorry."

Kalle looked at her and for a moment Janeway thought she saw a softening in the woman's eyes. But it was gone quickly enough that Janeway wasn't sure if she imagined it.

"I want you to follow me out the door. Stay behind me at all times, do you understand?"

"No, Kalle, I'm not putting you in harm's way."

With an exasperated sigh, Kalle pushed past Janeway and opened up the door.

"Follow me or stay here." With that, she left and Janeway rushed out after her.

Outside, Anka looked up when the two women emerged. Immediately, dozens of weapons were trained on them.

"Commander, we're here to ask that you deactivate Captain Janeway's bracelet."

Janeway waited for him to laugh at them, but instead saw Anka looking at Kalle assessingly, She also thought she saw a glint of fear in his eyes, but since he was always so self-assured, she didn't think it likely.

"If you do, Commander, we'll leave you alive. Otherwise, I can get the control off your dead body."

Anka responded to this, "I don't do well with threats, Kalle. By the way, it's good to see you again."

Kalle frowned, "Commander, make your decision."

Anka didn't, but started walking slowly towards them. "I missed you after you left my care. I made a mistake giving you to Mayvik. I should have kept you for myself. I guess it worked out, though, since I was able to have your Captain here instead."

Kalle hissed at that statement and started to rush at him, but Janeway quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back, "Kalle, don't."

Kalle stopped, took a deep breathe and then smiled, "It's over, Anka. Give up now and we can all live in peace."

"You know that's not possible, Kalle. Peace is something you and I will never have."

Without turning, he raised his arm and Janeway heard the weapons behind him click on. She braced herself, accepting her fate. She was still holding Kalle's arm and the warmth running between her and the other woman calmed her. She closed her eyes and waited.

She heard an explosion and her body tensed, but she didn't feel anything. She opened her eyes, to find Anka's men had been thrown aside, bodies slumped on the ground. Anka was backpedaling away from them.

Kalle took a step forward, eyes blazing, "Don't move, Commander."

He didn't listen, but instead turned to run. Kalle flicked her hand out and the ground exploded in front of him. Janeway fell back in shock as debris from the street rained down on them. Anka stumbled away from the gaping hole in front of him and then turned to the side, but the street split apart, forming a wide crevice that dropped into blackness.

He looked at Kalle and said, "You're an abomination." He grabbed his wrist and ripped the control off it, threw it at Kalle, turned and sprinted in the only direction left to him.

Kalle let Anka run, instead reaching down to grab the control. She pressed some buttons and Janeway looked down to see the light on the bracelet turning off. Kalle leaned down and tore it off.

"Come on, we need to get out of here."

"Kalle, wait, what just happened?"

She might as well not have spoken, because Kalle ignored her and ran back towards the hole in the prison wall. Janeway had no choice but to follow.

The two of them ran across the yard and through another gap in the opposite wall that led out into the edge of the city.

Janeway had to sprint to keep up with Kalle. Her shoulder was sending shooting pains down her back with each step and she was quickly exhausting what little energy she had. They zigzagged through the city streets until they reached fields that surrounded the city border.

The two women ran through them, scrambling over stone walls and between the trees that bordered each field. In the distance, Janeway could see a large ship was landing.

As they got closer, Janeway could see that the ship was taking fire from Trelok soldiers who were converging on the landing site.

Kalle picked up her speed, barely looking back to see if Janeway was following. Janeway yelled at her to stop as they reached the fighting, but Kalle wasn't listening.

As soon as they got to the edge of the weapon's firing, Kalle ran towards the fray. Eyes blazing, she raised her arms in front of her and held out her hands palms facing towards the soldiers. Janeway felt the air around them became heavy and she found it harder to move, as if she was trying to run through butter. The air whipped around her and the first wave of Trelok soldiers were lifted off their feet, thrown back, and crushed on the ground.

The soldiers behind them didn't even pause, but climbed over their fallen comrades, as they ran at Kalle and the ship. Behind, the Brahid ship had landed and Janeway saw her crew being escorted up the ramp to safety. Brahidian soldiers were surrounding them protectively, weapons firing into the crowd of Trelok soldiers coming at them. Smaller Brahidian fighter ships were shooting at the Trelok's as they zipped above the field. Bodies from both sides lay littered everywhere.

Janeway struggled to keep up with Kalle, but the other woman had already reached the Trelok and was fighting them hand to hand. Janeway watched her engage one of the soldiers, but it looked as if Kalle wasn't even touching her opponent. With each blow she made, energy radiated out to impact dozens of the men around her.

As she cut a path through the men, Janeway saw that she was beginning to slow down. Her movements because jerky and sweat was pouring down her face. She stumbled a few times but immediately pulled herself back up to continue. Janeway caught up to her and, when Kalle stumbled again, Kathryn put her arms around her to help her up.

Kalle shrugged her off and yelled, "Get to the ship and tell Avani to get our people on board. They need to leave now."

Janeway didn't miss how Kalle said "they" and she said, "You're not coming with us?"

"The ship won't make it out of here if I don't hold off the rest of the troops. Go, now."

They were about fifty yards from the ship now and a few Brahidian soldiers ran to them, grabbing Janeway to help her to the ship. She fought their hold and ran back to Kalle.

"I'm not leaving you behind."

Again, Janeway thought she saw Kalle's eyes soften.

"You can't help, Captain. Your ship needs you. And I have to stay."

Janeway wanted to say that she needed Kalle, that she couldn't lose her again, but she felt herself being pulled back and, this time, the grip around her arms was tighter. Kalle had already turned back to the fighting.

Other than the guards stationed at the ramp, everybody else had boarded the ship. They pulled Janeway up, who was still fighting to get back to Kalle. At the top of the ramp, Avani greeted them and pulled Janeway aside.

"She can handle herself, Captain. This is her choice, don't take that away from her. Focus on your crew."

Janeway took one last look out the window, where Kalle was struggling to hold back the hundreds of men surging at the ship.

She heard the engines engage and as the ship lifted off, Kalle pushed back the crowd of men around her. She knelt down and laid her hand on the ground. A ripple ran out from it and the entire ground around her heaved. Roots from the trees around the edge of the field reached up through the dirt and grabbed at the men above. The soldiers, unable to keep their balance with the ground bucking beneath them were scrambling to avoid the roots that were wrapping around their legs and panicking.

In the middle of the chaos, Kalle was lying on the ground, unconscious.


	13. Chapter 13

Janeway stared at the ground until the ship was high enough so that the people below were just specks. The ship ascended through the clouds and Trelok fighter ships converged on them, their phasers pounding at the Brahid shields.

She turned away from the window as the clouds obstructed her view of the planet, sick about leaving Kalle behind. She shook it out of her mind, though, and readied herself to focus on her crew. She ignored the current fight that the ship was in, knowing that she couldn't do anything to help on that front.

Instead, she asked someone where to find her crew and they led her to the Brahid version of a sickbay. In there, she saw Chakotay tending to the injured members of Voyager.

When Chakotay looked up and saw her, he smiled slowly at her, came over, and embraced her. Janeway winced when he put pressure on her arm and he pulled back.

"Captain, you're hurt."

"I'm fine, Chakotay." She forced a smile and patted him on the arm with her good arm. "Update me on the status of the crew."

"Everybody made it to the ship, but we do have quite a few injuries. The healthy crew are in a different portion of the ship, resting."

Chakotay looked over his Captain again. She was acting more like the woman he had known before the Trelok, but even so, her eyes shifted warily around the room taking in everybody's movements. Chakotay didn't think she even realized that she was doing it.

"Captain, there's nothing to do right now. You should let the doctors see to your shoulder and then rest."

Janeway ignored him, instead walking around the sickbay, talking with each crew member there. When she was finished, she made her way to where the rest of the crew was and talked with them as well. She then pulled her senior staff aside and talked briefly about job responsibilities until they could regroup.

While they were talking, Avani entered the room. She pulled the Captain away to speak with her.

"I have to get back to the bridge, but I needed to talk to you. Would you accompany me?"

Janeway nodded and they left her crew behind.

"Captain, we were able to disable the Trelok ships pursuing us. And, you'll be happy to hear, that we were able to tractor your ship."

Janeway looked at Avani in disbelief.

"You have Voyager here?"

Avani nodded. The relief on Janeway's face was so extreme that Avani smiled. But then Janeway stopped walking and she leaned against the wall, slumping as her legs gave out on her. Once on the ground, she found herself shaking, tears streaming down her face.

Avani knelt down beside her and softly wrapped her arms around the Captain, stroking her hair with her fingers. She held her like that for a few minutes until Kathryn spoke.

"I can't do this. I'm not strong enough. I don't deserve to lead this crew."

Avani shushed her, "Captain, you're one of the strongest people I've ever met. Don't underestimate yourself."

"I'm sorry, Avani, I'm not usually this emotional. I'm falling apart."

"I know it's not easy, but try not to be too hard on yourself. It's been an extremely difficult year for you. Come, we need to get you looked at by a doctor. And you need some rest."

Kathryn let herself be led to sickbay and once her shoulder had been tended to, they found her a spare bed. She asked to be sedated, knowing that she would only dream of Kalle lying unmoving on the ground if she went to sleep on her own.

* * *

She woke almost a day later. Still groggy, she got out of bed and stretched, her abused muscles groaning in protest. She washed up and went on a search for her senior staff.

She found them eating dinner in the mess hall. They looked to their Captain when she walked in and she saw their faces light up. Tom Paris stood up and pulled out a chair for her and Janeway's heart almost gave out with the love she felt for these people and their loyalty towards her. It wasn't deserved.

They updated her on what had happened over the last day. They were headed to an uninhabited planet about a week away, to regroup and make repairs. The healthy members of Voyager's crew had gone over to Voyager and were assessing what needed to be done there. Once the repairs were made, the Brahidian's were preparing to launch a rescue for Kalle - whether or not she had survived.

After dinner, Janeway and the team beamed over to Voyager. The Trelok had done a number on the ship, taking it apart to study how everything worked, and the crew was busy putting it back together.

Janeway spent hours around the ship, making sure she had touched base with each department. During normal times, visits from the Captain were anxiety producing events. But now, they craved her attention. When she came into a room, she could see everyone relaxing around her, as if she was going to fix everything.

By the time she finished her tour and made it to her ready room, she felt a weight closing in on her chest. Never since she had become a captain had she truly questioned her ability to lead those around her. But how could someone who let themselves be treated the way that Anka had treated her be fit for command? Her decisions over the past months were questionable and her crew needed more.

As she thought about it, the pressure on her chest got tighter and tighter. Before long, she was struggling to breath and her arms were becoming tingly.

She tapped her commbadge, "Doctor, can you please come to my ready room."

The Doctor had been deactivated when the ship was taken over but was now systematically meeting with each crew member, assessing their health and prescribing medications and a diet plan to get them each healthy again.

When he reached the Captain, he found her curled up on the floor behind her desk, arms holding her knees tightly to her chest.

He rushed over to her, "Captain, what's wrong?"

She didn't respond, her breathing so erratic that she couldn't speak.

The Doctor ran his medical tricorder over her, grabbed a hypospray and injected it into her neck.

Seconds later, her breathing became more regular and the feeling started to come back to her limbs.

"Captain, you're having a panic attack. Just take it easy and take regular breathes."

He gave her a few more minutes and then helped her stand up and walk over to her couch.

"Do you want to talk about what's going on?"

"No, Doctor, I don't."

"Captain, the tricorder is showing that you've had some extensive injuries since you've been gone. And you've never had panic attacks before."

"Doctor, it's been a long few months. I'm just a little bit stressed from losing my ship. Twice. Please focus your attention on the crew members who really need your care."

The Doctor sighed, an annoying habit that Janeway wished he would delete from his subroutines. He knew that he wouldn't get anything out of her when she got this way.

"Fine, Captain. But I expect to see you in my office for a checkup as soon as I've met with the rest of the crew. Understood?"

The Captain had already stood up and walked to her desk.

"Understood, Doctor," she said dismissively.

* * *

In the days that followed, the routines aboard Voyager returned to normal. They held a service for the ensign who had been killed on Trelok, with Janeway barely getting through it without breaking down.

The more time she spent with her crew, the more guilt she felt. She had panic attacks multiple times a day and finally stopped telling the doctor about them, instead just waiting them out.

Since the first day, when she had been sedated to sleep, she hadn't been able to close her eyes without seeing her emaciated crew or a broken Kalle lying on the ground. She began walking around the ship at night and she reminded the crew of a zombie.

She found she still couldn't hold down her food. Chakotay invited her to his quarters for dinner one night and she picked at the meal, until she noticed him watching her. She tried to eat more of it, but guilt washed over her and she had to run to his bathroom and throw it up. She felt even more guilty after that, knowing she had wasted food.

At first, the senior staff thought she just needed some time to readjust. But as the days went by, it only seemed to get worse.

She started spending the majority of her time in her ready room or in her quarters. She barely spoke and delegated most of her responsibilities to Commander Chakotay.

Her officers realized it was really bad one day during a daily briefing.

They had reached the planet and had landed on the surface to continue their repairs. They were discussing one section of the ship that needed a significant amount of work and Janeway had absentmindedly gotten up and was staring out the window while they talked. Chakotay had asked her a question and when she didn't respond, he got up and put his hand on her shoulder.

At the touch, the Captain had struck out blindly at the Commander, screaming as she fell back against the bulkhead. She ended up on the floor, huddled there. Chakotay leaned down to soothe her and she flailed at him, her eyes wild.

"It's me, Kathryn - Chakotay. I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay, you're on Voyager. It's okay."

The rest of the staff looked on in disbelief. They didn't recognize this woman who used to be their rock.

Chakotay looked at them and indicated that they should leave. When they were gone, he sat next to the Captain until she calmed down.

"I can't do this, Chakotay."

"Tell me what happened on the planet, Kathryn. You need to talk about it."

"I can't. I'm sorry, I can't."

"You need to talk to somebody, Kathryn. What about Avani? I can see why it would be hard to talk to a member of the crew. But, Avani is your peer. And you seem to have a good relationship with her. Please, you need to talk to somebody."

Kathryn was silent for a moment, but finally responded, "I'll think about it."

* * *

She found Avani outside the main Brahid ship, talking with some of her people. When Avani saw her, she broke off from the group.

"Captain, we haven't had much of a chance to talk. Would you like to take a walk?"

Janeway nodded and they set off, heading away from both ships.

They walked silently for awhile, Janeway obviously in thought and Avani not pushing.

Finally, Kathryn spoke, "Have you ever questioned your ability to lead?"

Avani thought for awhile and then responded, "Yes, of course. I think all leaders must at some point or another."

"I let him beat me and rape me. And I felt pleasure from it. How can I be a leader, when I could feel that way?"

Avani didn't respond and Kathryn continued talking about everything that had happened to her and to her crew on Trelok. She didn't leave out any details, relaying it all with no emotion on her face.

When she finished, Avani reached out and took Kathryn's hand.

"You made sacrifices for your crew, Kathryn. Everything you did on the planet was for them. What more can you ask of yourself?"

Kathryn shook her head, "How can I be a captain when I can't stand to be around the people I lead? Every time somebody touches me, I think it's Anka. I'm afraid all the time. A ship can't function with a captain like this."

"And, look at Kalle, who dealt with a lifetime of abuse, but didn't fall apart. She didn't enjoy it or ask for more. Instead, she helped protect me. I was supposed to protect her and, instead, I couldn't even protect myself. She must hate me."

They had stopped walking during the conversation and had found a log to sit on. Avani turned Kathryn towards her.

"Kalle doesn't hate you, Captain. The night you saw her last, we had just launched our first attempt at a rescue mission. We were hoping to get to you before you reached the planet. But, we haven't left our planet for over a decade and needed time to refit our ships. We took as much time as we felt we could and then left the planet with what we had. It wasn't enough, though, to get to all of you. We got Kalle and then had to retreat."

"She was like a different person, when we found her. She fought us, trying to get back to you, but at the same time, it was like she was broken."

Kathryn's face colored at this statement, guilt and shame rising to her cheeks.

"We brought her back to the planet and talked about preparing for our next rescue attempt. The first week, she wouldn't speak to anybody. She camped outside the village and spent her time meditating. When she came back, she said that she wanted to be a part of the mission."

"What she didn't know was that we couldn't attempt to rescue you without her. I wasn't entirely honest with you, Captain, when you asked me why Kalle was so important to the Trelok. I told you I didn't know. But that isn't true. I do know."

"When Kalle was born, we knew she was different from the rest of us. We all have telepathic abilities. All humans do, but we were only able to tap into them when we were connected through the Borg. Our ancestors honed those abilities over the generations. Now, we use them to manipulate our connection with the earth and to create defenses for ourselves."

"Kalle, though, her abilities are way beyond anything we've seen before. That is why the Trelok wanted her. They knew that if she grew up and learned how to use those abilities, they would have no chance at defeating us."

Janeway had sat silently through this all, but interrupted Avani now.

"Is that what I saw her doing on Trelok? She seemed to be controlling the earth around her."

"Yes. Over the months before we came to get you, I spent hours with her everyday training her. What you saw that day on Brahid was just a glimpse into what her abilities are."

"She easily moved past 'reading' energy into controlling it. She would push herself hard everyday to learn, often passing out from exhaustion and working through debilitating headaches. I have never seen someone so focused. She worried that everyday it took her to learn what she needed was one more day you and your crew were held captive."

"The day she managed to manipulate the elements on the scale you saw on Trelok, we left to come get you. Unfortunately, she hasn't learned how to do it without using up her own energy, which is why she passed out on the planet."

Avani looked uncomfortable now.

"Captain, you're not the only one who has let Kalle down. I've failed twice, now, to protect her. But, she's an adult now. And she should be allowed to make her own decisions. I am trying to let go of it, you should also."

* * *

Repairs were coming along quickly and Janeway and Avani met about the Brahid plan to rescue Kalle. She was just finishing relaying the information to her staff.

"I want to hear your opinions on whether or not Voyager should be a part of this rescue."

The officers looked around them, confused. They had just assumed that they would be a part of the rescue mission. The Brahid had lost many people while rescuing the Voyager crew and, on top of that, many of them felt that Kalle had become a part of their family. They were surprised that it was even up for discussion, given Janeway's obvious attachment to the woman.

Chakotay was the first to speak, "Are you considering not joining the rescue, Captain?"

Janeway took a deep breath before answering, "Voyager has been through a lot and I can't ask the crew to continue risking their lives. I promised them I'd get them home and this isn't their fight."

Paris jumped in when she had finished, "Captain, we're not ready to give in to the Trelok. We can't leave Kalle with them. We've already seen what they have done with her. It's not right."

The rest of the staff was nodding their heads in agreement.

Janeway put her head down, "I understand how you feel, but I've already made my decision. When repairs are complete, Voyager will resume her course to the Alpha Quadrant. I will stay behind to assist in the rescue operation. Commander Chakotay will take over command in my absence."

The conference erupted with voices. Everyone was voicing their opinions at the same time and it exhausted Janeway. She couldn't remember how she did it in the past.

Finally, Chakotay silenced everyone, but it was Torres who made the next statement.

"Captain, with all due respect, we're not abandoning Kalle. And we're not abandoning you. You think we don't see what this has done to you? We may not know the details of what you went through on that planet, but we can see how you've given up. We know that you think we're better off without you."

"But we're not. We need you. And you need us. And we're not giving you up without a fight."

Janeway looked around at the team. They were all agreeing with Torres.

Chakotay spoke next, his voice commanding, "We don't deny you what you're going through, Captain, but by abandoning us, you're belittling the respect we feel for you. This crew follows you for a reason. Don't make them think it was all for nothing."

Janeway struggled to keep her composure in front of everyone, as she found herself becoming emotional. She felt a tear escaping her eye and put her head in her hands, silently willing herself to get herself together.

Chakotay's voice was soft now as he continued, "None of us think less of you for being vulnerable, Kathryn."

It took her a few more minutes to compose herself and when she raised her head, she looked at them all individually before smiling and saying, "I should have known you wouldn't let me wallow. Thank you."

She turned to B'Elanna and said, "You're right, I do need you."

"Okay, let's get back to business, then. Suggestions on how we should approach this rescue mission."

Her voice was steady and commanding, no trace of the uncertainty she felt only moments before. There was a moment of hesitation from her team as they adjusted to her quick change in demeanor, but a second later, ideas were being bantered back and forth as if nothing had happened.


End file.
